It was scary at points, but No. 1 Duke basketball prevailed 90-77 at Cameron Indoor Stadium this afternoon, led by a career-high 31 points from Seth Curry and another double double from Mason Plumlee.
The win was Duke's 101st consecutive non-conference home victory at Cameron.
Here’s your postgame breakdown:
Revisiting the three keys to the game:
- Can Duke immediately click after the break? Well, not immediately. Santa Clara led from the start, but Duke broke through for an 11-point first half lead. Still, the Broncos refused to go away, retaking the lead and leading in the second half. The rest of the second half was a different story—Duke eventually built a huge lead, but there were definitely some small signs of rust in the early going.
- Which Kevin Foster shows up? In the first half, Foster was a one-man wrecking crew. When Duke took an 11-point first half lead, he heated up and helped the Broncos retake control. He was 8-of-13 from the field in the first half, scoring 18 points, matching his season average entering play. He couldn't quite match that in the second half, but he did hit a couple big threes to keep it from getting too out of hand. This was definitely the dominant Kevin Foster though. He finished with 29 points—major ups to him for what he did considering the onus that was placed on him to carry the team.
- Another bench opportunity—No. Marshall Plumlee checked in for a minute or so in the first half, but other than that it was a typically short Coach K rotation. Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton got their regular minutes, but Amile Jefferson and Alex Murphy never stepped on the floor. Duke built a double-digit lead late that they were able to hold onto, but it never felt secure enough for Coach K to open up the rotation.
Three key plays of the game:
- 15:38, first half: Santa Clara had led from the opening tip, but with 15:38 left in the first half, Ryan Kelly nailed a 3-pointer, his only bucket of the first half, to bring Duke within one. That bucket sparked a 17-2 Duke run, giving the Blue Devils a 25-14 advantage, their biggest one of the half.
- 8:25, first half: The Broncos scored just two points in seven minutes as Duke went on that run, but Foster made a layup to give Santa Clara some life and spark a run that would give the Broncos the lead again. He scored nine points in a two minute span with that bucket starting it off.
- 5:59, second half: With a layup in the second half, Seth Curry clinched a career-high scoring performance. He was silky smooth all night, hitting a number of key jumpers and layups in both halves to either keep Duke close or help the team break away. He finished with a career-high 31 points on 12-of-18 shooting, including 4-of-7 from deep.
Three key stats:
- 7-of-14 shooting from 3-point range: Led by Curry's performance, Duke was on all night from 3-point range. The By contrast, the Broncos were just 9-of-27 from long range. That's the difference right there.
- 11 rebounds for Ryan Kelly: Kelly has not been huge on the glass so far this season, but he secured a double-digit rebound performance early in the second half. He didn't score a ton, but he was all over the glass. He finished with a double double, also adding 10 points.
- Five assists for Mason Plumlee: Plumlee had a tremendous game (see below) but he also made some tremendous passes that deserve to be noted. On one particularly savvy one, he drew a double-team in the paint and made a perfect pass across his body, between to defenders to Josh Hairston, who got an easy layup. Plumlee became the 61st player in Duke history to score 1,000 career points with his 23-point effort tonight.
And the Duke game ball goes to … Seth Curry. On any other day, Mason Plumlee's stat line and effort would net him the game ball: He scored 22 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and went 10-of-15 from the li ne. But what Curry did was just incredible. With a career-high 31 points on an uber-efficient 12-of-18 shooting, he made it look easy all afternoon. In a game that was scary at points for the No. 1 team in the nation, he regularly hit key shots.
And the Santa Clara game ball goes to … Kevin Foster. No doubt that the senior guard for the Broncos deserves to be honored. He kept the Broncos in it in the first half with 18 points, even letting them lead for much of the way. He ultimately finished 12-of-22 from the field and also added four assists.
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