Beyond the arc: Duke basketball vs. Winston-Salem State

Taking on reigning CIAA champions Winston-Salem State, Duke basketball cruised to a 69-45 victory Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Here is your postgame breakdown...

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

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• Can the Blue Devils clean up the glass?—After the Blue Devils gave up 18 offensive rebounds to Western Washington in the opener, they struggled once again against the Rams. Although they outrebounded the Rams 46-44 and pulled in 18 offensive boards, Winston-Salem State grabbed 19 offensive rebounds. With 11 boards, Mason Plumlee recorded his second double-digit rebounding performance of the year, but Duke needs to improve on keeping its opponents from getting second chances.
• Clean up those turnovers—Consider it done. After turning the ball over 18 times against Western Washington, Duke gave it up just nine times against Winston-Salem State. Beyond that, the Blue Devils forced 19 Winston-Salem State turnovers. Point guard Quinn Cook cut his turnovers from six to three while Mason Plumlee didn't turn it over at all after giving it up five times in the team's first game. This was a noticeable improvement from the first exhibition.
• Will Murphy be a bigger factor?—No. Alex Murphy looked alive at points, pushing the ball in transition, but he played just 14 minutes. In that time, he went 1-0f-6 from the field and turned it over twice. On the positive side, he collected five boards and two steals. The one thing to note about Murphy was his insistence getting on the break. His lone score was a dunk in transition after he stole the ball at midcourt. But, later in the first half, he turned it over on a break and had a charge on a fastbreak. No doubt Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski wants this team pushing the ball, but Murphy has to find his balance.

Three key plays of the game

• 19:15 first half—After turning it over on Duke's first possession, Quinn Cook quickly recovered and gave Duke the game's first points, pushing the ball up court and laying it in. Cook finished with just nine points and one assist, but he ended up hitting a jumper a few minutes later and contributed when the Blue Devils struggled early on offense.
• 16:26 first half—Welcome to the court, Seth Curry. After not playing in the team's first exhibition game with a lower leg injury, he finished just 1-of-9 from the field in 17 minutes of duty. More on his play later, but seeing him on the court finally, even though he struggled, was a big moment in this contest.
• 2:06 first half—Amile Jefferson came up with a huge swat with just over two minutes in the second half, pumping up the Cameron Crazies and his team. Jefferson finished the game with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, adding five rebounds. His defense and intensity were a key for Duke all night.

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Three key stats of the game:

• Nine Duke team turnovers—Regardless of how fast the play was against Western Washington, 18 turnovers was too many and Duke had to come out today and show they were prepared to take care of the ball. They did just that with nine turnovers, never giving the ball up, even when the offense was stagnant in the first half.
• Duke 1-of-17 from 3-point range. Wow. The good news for the Blue Devils is that they won by 24 despite what Coach K pondered might be the worst Duke shooting performance he has ever seen at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Sometimes, they just don't fall. This still figures to be a good shooting team—but there Duke's shooting from deep was ugly.
• Seth Curry 1-0f-9 from the field—In his first game of the season, Curry did not look comfortable in his 17 minutes of duty. He struggled from the field and was 0-for-4 from 3-point range. He added two steals in his limited duty, and it was certainly good for him to finally get his feet wet for this 2012-2013 campaign. But with a game against Kentucky less than two weeks away, the senior needs to find his form quickly if he wants to be a big early-season contributor.

And the Duke game ball goes to... Amile Jefferson. He was visible for every second of his 22 minutes on the floor and led the team defensively. Mason Plumlee probably had the biggest statline, but he will get plenty of game balls this season. Tonight belongs to Jefferson.

And the Winston-Salem game ball goes to ... WyKevin Bazemore, and not just because he might have the best name in the whole wide universe. He scored 11 of the team's 45 points and grabbed an astounding 17 rebounds. Kudos to WyKevin.

Surprise of the game... Jefferson. We knew he might be Josh Hairston 2.0 in terms of being an emotional leader, but what he showed on the defensive end was spectacular. And anybody who can play defense earns minutes on a Coach K team.