This week, The Blue Zone will be counting down the top five Duke basketball individual performances of the year. Following Rasheed Sulaimon's performance against Creighton, Mason Plumlee's early-season double-double against Ohio State ranks fourth on our list.
The game: Duke 73, Ohio State 68 on November 28
The player: Mason Plumlee
The statline: 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting, 9-of-12 free throws, 17 rebounds (including five offensive boards)
The headline: BUCK YOU RIGHT BACK
The story: Mason Plumlee's determined performance was instrumental in Duke's gritty early-season comeback against Ohio State and helped set the tone for this past year's program.
Despite trailing for much of the game, Plumlee—a team captain and senior leader—refused to let his teammates give up. The Blue Devils rallied from an 8-point halftime deficit to overcome head coach Thad Matta's Buckeyes, a feat that would have been highly improbable without Plumlee's production, defense, and leadership.
The 6-foot-10 forward out of Warsaw, Indiana recorded a double-double just five minutes into the game, but no statistics can do justice to the remarkable athleticism Plumlee displayed in the second half. In transition, point guard Quinn Cook threw a 40-foot lob pass that seemed impossibly high. There were audible gasps in Cameron as the ball sailed, but Plumlee rose from beneath the rim and, with his right arm fully outstretched, slammed the ball home and turned the gasps into a fan frenzy.
Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon, and Ryan Kelly all contributed with double-figure scoring, but Plumlee was clearly the spearhead for Duke's come-from-behind effort. Thanks in large part to Plumlee, the Blue Devils replaced what could have been a disheartening loss with their 97th straight home conference win.
The quote: “I was happy Quinn threw it. He trusted me and I upheld my end,” Plumlee said. “I told him, ‘We can’t be on Sportscenter, unless, you got to make it look like I can’t get it. If I get it, we’ll get on Top 10.’”
Previously:
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