NEW YORK—In search of career win No. 1,000, head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his Blue Devils will have to come back on the Red Storm in the second half.
No. 5 Duke trails St. Johns 43-39 after 20 minutes of play at Madison Square Garden. Jahlil Okafor leads the Blue Devils with 10 points, but the Red Storm's Rysheed Jordan and Sir'Dominic Poointer combined for 29 points to keep St. John's close.
In the early going, it was Tyus Jones continues to shine in the spotlight, pouring in five straight points. The freshman scored a lay-up in transition on a nice pass from Rasheed Sulaimon before canning a triple the next time down the floor.
Back in their man-to-man defense, the Blue Devils were able to get out in transition against the Red Storm. In a sequence that typified Krzyzewski's stint on the sideline, senior Quinn Cook dove on the floor to corral a loose ball after poking it away, starting the fast break. The ball swung to Matt Jones on the left side of the floor, but the sophomore unselfishly dropped it off for a trailing Jahlil Okafor, who slammed it home with authority to push the lead to 21-10.
Playing on center stage at The World's Most Famous Arena, Okafor has posted 10 points and four boards through 20 minutes and was terrorizing the Red Storm early on.
St. John's head coach Steve Lavin burned a timeout to stop the bleeding, and his team responded with an 11-2 run to close the gap to 23-21.
The Blue Devils scored just seven points in the next seven minutes as Sir'Dominic Pointer, Rysheed Jordan and the Red Storm came all the way back to tie the game at 28 with 5:25 to play. In danger of relinquishing the lead for the first time since trailing 3-2, Duke responded with baskets from Jefferson and Okafor.
St. John's also got a little help from the officials with 3.3 seconds left in the half, as D'Angelo Harrison's 3-pointer was counted despite the clear shot clock violation due to an NCAA rule that states the shot clock is only reviewable in the final two minutes of a game or overtime.
Here are some observations from the first half:
- The Blue Devils continued to switch back and forth between man-to-man and zone defenses Sunday after showing zone for much of their games against Louisville and Pittsburgh. St. John's finished the first half shooting 54.8 percent from the floor.
- Red Storm center Joey De La Rosa committed a hard foul against Amile Jefferson as the captain tried to finish at the rim. The play was reviewed, but remained a common foul. Jefferson missed both free throws.
- After the St. John's run, Cook rattled home a triple in transition to quell the tide, but Pointer responded with an open jumper.
- Apart from Pointer and Jordan, the rest of the St. John's starting five combined for just 14 points in the first half. Coming off a 3-for-18 performance against Marquette earlier in the week, leading scorer D'Angelo Harrison has been held in check again, heading to the locker room with just seven points.
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