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(03/16/14 5:01am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>GREENSBORO, N.C.—It is a rare day when holding someone to 21 points is considered a success.But that's what Duke did Saturday in the ACC tournament semifinals, keeping ACC Player of the Year T.J. Warren in check for the majority of the second half as the Blue Devils pulled away for a 75-67 victory. N.C. State's dynamic forward finished with 21 points, but needed 22 shots to get them.In the early going, the ACC's leading scorer appeared on pace to repeat his 41- and 42-point performances to close out the regular season. Warren buffeted the Blue Devils with a barrage of difficult baskets in the first half, scoring 11 of N.C. State's first 19 points and finishing the period with 13. The Durham native showcased his versatility against his hometown team by scoring in a variety of ways: finishing at the rim, cutting backdoor for lay-ups, spinning through traffic and pulling up with a hand in his face.A halftime adjustment allowed Rodney Hood to assert his defensive dominance on Warren down the stretch.Redshirt sophomore Rodney Hood drew the assignment on Warren one day after shadowing Clemson's biggest scoring threat, K.J. McDaniels. At Hood's suggestion, the Blue Devil coaching staff made an important adjustment in its approach to containing Warren, shying away from the initial gameplan of playing to Warren's high side when he didn't have the ball. As a result, Hood was beaten on backdoor cuts twice in the first half.The new strategy, staying even with Warren instead of overcommitting, paid great dividends in the second half."You can overcoach. We overcoached our preparation," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "[Hood] was doing what we asked him to do and it wasn't working. He said, 'Coach, let me play him my normal way.' That was better."Sophomore forward Amile Jefferson shouldered some of the blame for Warren's torrid first-half points in the paint, citing breakdowns in Duke's help defense and rotations."In that first half we weren't talking enough, we weren't helping each other out," Jefferson said. "Our guards were doing a really great job fighting to make sure he took tough shots, but they didn't really have the help they needed in the first half. In the second half we were able to slide over more, give more help, make him see a lot of eyes when he turned into the paint. I think that really helped us out."After a 6-of-9 first half, Warren managed to make just four of his 13 field goal attempts in the final 20 minutes of the game.When Hood picked up his second foul with 6:09 left in the first half, the task was shifted to a trio of Duke guards. Tyler Thornton, Rasheed Sulaimon and Matt Jones all spent time guarding Warren, but Hood regained the primary defensive duties after intermission.Warren scored on the opening possession of the second half, but did not make another basket until the 7:07 mark, missing his next five shots and committing two turnovers during that personal drought. The Wolfpack suffered the ill effects of its star's struggles, as Duke outscored N.C. State 23-13 in that 12:24 span.“Every shot, we tried to contest it," Sulaimon said. "With T.J, you can’t fall
asleep. He’s always looking to score, whether on cuts or offensive rebounds, so
we just tried to stay alert on him and whenever he got the ball to make sure
that 10 eyes were on him.”Warren got hot again down the stretch in a last-gasp effort to bring the Wolfpack into—both in the game and in the NCAA tournament conversation. The sophomore made three of his final six shots, but also missed a pair of free throws in the final minute and fumbled a ball out of bounds with Duke ahead by double digits and looking to put the game out of reach.Warren attracted the full attention of Duke's defense, and Tyler Thornton, Matt Jones and Rasheed Sulaimon all guarded him when Rodney Hood suffered through foul trouble in the first half.Fatigue may have finally gotten to Warren, who logged 39 minutes Saturday in N.C. State's third game in as many days. Aware of that possibility, Sulaimon said the Blue Devils tried to make both Warren and sharpshooter Ralston Turner work as hard as possible for every shot.“We knew that they had a short rotation, so that’s why we
tried to get after them defensively," Sulaimon said. "We’re a good defensive team, and we just
tried to wear out their legs because we knew sooner or later they would fatigue
and start to wear away.”
(03/16/14 12:20am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Tight games have been par for the course at the 2014 ACC tournament, and semifinal Saturday has been no different. Duke and N.C. State are locked in another close contest at the half, with Duke holding a 39-38 edge. The Blue Devils came into the game looking to slow down N.C. State's T.J. Warren, who is averaging 26.0 points per game thus far in the tournament, and quickly found that to be easier said than done. Warren had 13 points in the first half, scoring on pull-ups, off the dribble, and from the foul line. For Duke, Jabari Parker poured in 11 points as his aggressive play continued, and the Blue Devils got a combined 15 points from from guards Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon.The winner earns the right to try to unseat top-dog Virginia in the conference championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers hung on for a 51-48 win against Pittsburgh in the first semifinal matchup.Here are some observations from the first half:
(03/15/14 10:03pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Duke has its hands full in the ACC tournament semifinals against N.C. State today at 3 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. Even though the match-up means no rubber match between Duke and Syracuse, the Blue Devils will have to find a way to do something the Orange could not—contain T.J. Warren, who torched Jim Boeheim's club for 28 points. Here are today's keys to the game:
(03/15/14 9:46pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Blue Devils survived an upset bid by Clemson Friday night to advance to Saturday's ACC tournament semifinal, where they'll face another underdog in seventh-seeded N.C. State. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. from the Greensboro Coliseum. Here are this afternoon's X-factors for each team:Duke: guard Tyler ThorntonThornton's contributions might not show up in the stat sheet, but the gritty senior makes all the hustle plays and sound decisions that allow Jabari Parker and Co. to put up gaudy numbers. Thornton made only one shot Friday night, but it was a big one—a 3-pointer from the corner to extend a brittle Duke lead. His intangibles and uncanny ability to make the right play at the right time will be a tremendous boon for the Blue Devils as they try to reach the conference championship game.Fan's pick: Amile Jefferson is the fan's selection with 42.9% of the vote. Tyler Thornton and Andre Dawkins tie for second at 28.6%.N.C. State: guard Ralston TurnerAll the attention on the Wolfpack centers around T.J. Warren, and deservedly so—the ACC Player of the Year is scoring at will right now. But N.C. State would not have stunned Syracuse if not for big shots made by Turner. The transfer from LSU has connected on 8-of-15 attempts from beyond the arc in his two games in Greensboro, and his streaky shooting will give the Duke defense another thing to be wary of Saturday afternoon. The Blue Devils can't sag too far off Turner to help on Warren, but also can't stay home on the sharpshooter and allow Warren to drive and find easy baskets.
(03/15/14 7:11pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>GREENSBORO, N.C.—The nation salivated with the possibility of a postseason rubber match between Duke and Syracuse, the teams that produced two of college basketball's most entertaining and controversial games of the regular season. But it was not to be.Instead, third-seeded Duke will meet seventh-seeded N.C. State in the semifinals of the ACC tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Wolfpack earned a 67-58 win against Miami Thursday night before stunning the Orange 66-63 a day later.The upset came as a shock to many, but don't count the Duke coaching staff among that crowd. Nor are the Blue Devils expecting a repeat performances of the teams' first meeting of the year, a 95-60 drubbing of the Wolfpack at Cameron Indoor Stadium Jan. 18."I'm not [surprised to see N.C. State in the semis]," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "First of all, we would love to see anyone in the semis. I've coached a lot of games in this tournament, and every one is a huge game. You're just happy to advance. I'm not surprised to see N.C. State. N.C. State is playing great basketball. Mark [Gottfried]'s got his team playing at a real high level of belief."Saturday's matchup may well come down to a head-to-head battle between two of the conference's most prolific scorers. Wolfpack sophomore and ACC Player of the Year T.J. Warren has broken the 30-point threshold nine times this season, including back-to-back 40-point performances to close the regular season against Pittsburgh and Boston College. The swingman tallied 28 big points to spur the Wolfpack (21-12) to the upset of the Orange in the quarterfinals."Warren is playing lights-out basketball. He's had a great year, but the last few weeks, 'phenomenal' is not exaggerating. He's been unbelievable. And he never seems to get tired," Krzyzewski said. "Warren's at that elite level right now.... He gets points for his team and he's very efficient."Warren was the lone bright spot for the Wolfpack in the first meeting between the teams, scoring 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting, just below his season average of 24.9 points per game. Duke forward Rodney Hood was tasked with slowing Clemson's K.J. McDaniels Friday night, and is a front-runner for the job of containing Warren Saturday.Jabari Parker struggled from the field but finished with 18 points in a win against Clemson.On the other end of the court, Blue Devil freshman Jabari Parker continues to power the offense for Duke (25-7). Parker, who finished second to Warren in the conference player of the year voting, scored a team-high 18 points in Duke's quarterfinal victory against Clemson Friday night, but saw his streak of six consecutive double-doubles ended after pulling down just three rebounds.For Parker, Saturday's contest will not come down to a one-on-one competition, but rather a five-on-five battle."We want to play N.C. State. We don't look at individual matchups because it's all about a team game," Parker said. "Me and Rodney are trying to do our job and whatever it takes."The Blue Devils scored 33 points off 21 N.C. State turnovers in the teams' lone matchup of the season.In the January matchup, the Blue Devils scored 33 points off 21 Wolfpack turnovers to put the game quickly out of hand. Duke also won the rebounding battle 35-32 and poured in 42 points in the paint. Nearly two full months later, N.C. State is playing with the confidence of a completely different team, but the basics of the Duke gameplan should still carry over."I remember we just got to defend the paint, not allow them to to get comfortable on offense," Parker said. "We just got to focus on playing together as a team and defending."Through two games in Greensboro, Ralston Turner has elevated his game in the supporting cast surrounding Warren. The LSU transfer has knocked down eight 3-pointers thus far, including a bank-shot triple late in the Syracuse game.With a 3-8 record against the RPI Top 50, the Wolfpack figure to still have some work to do to sneak into the NCAA tournament field, even after the win against the Orange. Krzyzewski said the desperation of life on the bubble makes conference tournaments especially dangerous for the highly-ranked teams playing purely for tournament seeding."At this time of the year, so many teams that are going to be pretty good seeds in the tournament get knocked off by teams that just are playing with great hunger and great sense of urgency," Krzyzewski said. "To see kids on all these teams fighting like crazy for an opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament, it's magnificent. You have to beat teams like that, and that's difficult."
(03/15/14 6:12pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It seemed as though history would repeat itself Friday night. Nursing a double-digit second half lead against Clemson, Duke let that advantage slip away as the Tigers stormed back to take a 62-61 lead with less than 10 seconds to play. But Rodney Hood saved the day for the Blue Devils yet again, drawing a foul with 3.8 ticks left and hitting both free throws to give Duke back a one-point lead, which was good enough for the victory. Third-seeded Duke will play seventh-seeded N.C. State in the second ACC tournament semifinal game at the Greensboro Coliseum Saturday at 3 p.m.Revisiting the three keys to the game:
(03/15/14 6:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Duke leads Clemson 29-25 at the break here at the Greensboro Coliseum in the nightcap of the ACC tournament quarterfinals. The third-seeded Blue Devils earned a double-bye into the quarterfinals and struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the opening 20 minutes as they tried to exact revenge for Clemson's 72-59 upset Jan. 11. Duke found its rhythm late in the period to shoot 40 percent overall and has outrebounded Clemson 20-14 after being demolished 48-30 on the boards in the first matchup in January.Here are some observations from the first half:
(03/15/14 3:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Duke has a chance to avenge its road loss to Clemson when the teams get together for a rematch at the Greensboro Coliseum at 9:30 p.m. Friday night. The third-seeded Blue Devils will be fresh after receiving a double-bye to the quarterfinals, while the Tigers may show some signs of fatigue following an overtime victory against Georgia Tech in Thursday's tournament nightcap. Here are tonight's keys to the game:Lock down on McDaniels: Tiger swingman K.J. McDaniels did it all for Clemson in its upset of Duke Jan. 11 at Littlejohn Coliseum, tallying 24 points, 10 rebounds and a couple of emphatic blocks. The junior had help from Jaron Blossomgame and Landry Nnoko, but McDaniels is the engine that makes the Tigers run. Limiting his touches in a scoring position and cutting off his opportunities to leak out in transition will be critical to Duke's defensive gameplan. When McDaniels struggles, Clemson often has major problems scoring.Attack the basket: In the teams' first meeting of the season, Jabari Parker was still adjusting to the physical nature of ACC play. The freshman struggled against the Tigers, posting 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting and making just 2-of-6 from long range. Since then, Parker has figured out his strengths, opting to pass up the outside jump shots in favor of attacking the rim and drawing contact. It's a big reason why the ACC Freshman of the Year ended the regular season with six consecutive double-doubles.Finish strong: Duke's late-game cold spell at Clemson was a warning of things to come in the rest of conference play. In four of the Blue Devils' five conference losses—all away from Cameron Indoor Stadium—Duke has been doomed by subpar second-half shooting and a lack of defensive intensity. With nothing but neutral sites the rest of the way, Duke won't have to worry about increasingly hostile crowds when their shots stop falling, but they will need to ratchet up the intensity to take, keep and extend a second-half lead.
(03/09/14 3:54am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>No. 4 Duke and No. 14 North Carolina play the second installment of the Tobacco Road rivalry tonight at 9 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. To the winner goes both the bragging rights and the No. 3 seed in next weekend's ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C. The Blue Devils will also look to avenge their 74-66 loss to the Tar Heels Feb. 20 in Chapel Hill, and avoid their first losing streak of the season after falling at Wake Forest Wednesday night.Here are tonight's keys to the game:Be the aggressorIn the first matchup of the season, the Tar Heels got to the free throw line 31 times compared to just 12 attempts for Duke. Despite only making 20 of the 31 free throws, North Carolina was able to get the Blue Devils into crippling foul trouble—Jabari Parker, Rodney Hood, Amile Jefferson, Tyler Thornton and Marshall Plumlee all finished with four fouls. The resulting disruptions to the lineup affected Duke's second-half offense. To even the season series, Duke must attack the basket and try to put the Tar Heels on the defensive and in foul trouble instead.Go inside-outIn its last four games, Duke is shooting just 27.2 percent from behind the arc, well below its season average of 39.5 percent. The shooting woes haven't deterred the Blue Devils from continuing to launch away, as they went 6-of-27 on 3-pointers against Wake Forest. If Duke continues to struggle to hit the mark from downtown Saturday night, the Blue Devils could explore running more of the offense through Parker in the post and Hood at the elbow, where they can face the basket and attack.Play a full 40 minutes on PaigeRasheed Sulaimon, Tyler Thornton and Quinn Cook combined to shut out Tar Heel point guard Marcus Paige in the first half, holding the sophomore to 0-of-2 shooting and three turnovers. In the second half, Paige scored 13 points and was the catalyst of North Carolina's late run to overtake the Blue Devils, driving to the basket for a couple clutch baskets down the stretch. Shutting down Paige would be nice but not realistic; containing him for 40 minutes is a must.
(03/06/14 7:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Trailing at halftime for just the second time all season, Duke got the lead back in the second half. But the Blue Devils could not hold it.Wake Forest scored 17 unanswered points down the stretch to upset the No. 4 Blue Devils 82-72 Wednesday night at Lawrence-Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The Demon Deacons entered play having won just one of their last nine games."I thought we kind of had them on their backs, on their heels," junior point guard Quinn Cook said. "And then we let up."Playing their first game in eight days, Duke (23-7, 12-5 in the ACC) struggled to find its rhythm in the first half. The Blue Devils missed seven of their first eight shots and shot just 2-of-12 from behind the arc in the opening stanza.Jabari Parker accepted responsibility for his team's loss because he "can't say that [he's] a freshman no more."Despite tallying 19 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth consecutive double-double, Jabari Parker was on the bench in foul trouble when Wake Forest started its spurt. The freshman did not use the long layover as an excuse and shouldered responsibility for the team’s faltering down the stretch."Even if we did [come out flat], we had a five-point lead coming within seven minutes," Parker said. "I can't say that I'm a freshman no more. If I want to play big minutes, if I want to [be out there] on the floor with my team, I've got to be responsible."The Demon Deacons (16-14, 6-11) won the battle in the backcourt. Sophomore guard Codi Miller-McIntyre, who missed the first meeting between the teams Feb. 4 due to injury, finished with 13 points and eight assists. His presence helped Wake Forest neutralize Duke's pressure-oriented perimeter defense—the Demon Deacons committed just 10 turnovers after giving the ball away 19 times without Miller-McIntyre at Cameron Indoor Stadium. At the other end, Quinn Cook, Tyler Thornton and Rasheed Sulaimon combined for 10 of Duke's 15 turnovers.Despite a slow start, the Blue Devils stayed close. Trailing 29-23 with 5:49 left in the first half, Duke erupted on a 10-0 run to take its first lead of the game. Rodney Hood scored 11 of his 16 points in the first half, five of them coming in that stretch.Duke charged out of the locker room and seemed about to reverse its shooting fortunes, scoring on its first three possessions of the second half. Eight quick points from Sulaimon gave the Blue Devils a five-point edge, but the hot shooting would not continue. Duke made three of its first five 3-point attempts after halftime but finished the game shooting 6-for-27 from long range on the evening."I thought at times we settled for perimeter jump shots. We weren't able to get the penetration that we would've liked to get, and we didn't get to the foul line," Duke associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski said. "We can't just be a team that relies on perimeter jump shots."As was the case in road losses to Notre Dame, Clemson and North Carolina, cold second-half shooting coupled with a break in intensity spelled disaster for Duke.Rodney Hood scored 16 points against Wake Forest before fouling out down the stretch.With 9:28 remaining, Duke turned the ball over at halfcourt and Hood fouled Wake Forest senior Travis McKie to prevent a lay-up. The foul was Hood's fourth, and his departure to the bench started the unraveling for the Blue Devils. Marshall Plumlee was called for his fourth personal foul soon afterwards, putting the Demon Deacons in the bonus. Wake Forest got to the line 34 times on the night, making 25. Duke was just 12-of-18.Knowing that Duke's forwards were saddled with foul trouble, Wake Forest pounded the ball inside. The strategy paid off as Cavanaugh and Arnaud William Adala Moto combined to score 32 points. Cavanaugh was the catalyst during the game-deciding run, pouring in 10 of his game-high 20 points in the final 5:44.Hood re-entered when Parker was called for his fourth foul at the 5:09 mark. Ahead 66-61 at the time, Duke was outscored 6-0 without the freshman on the floor, putting Wake Forest ahead 67-66. Parker's return could not stop the bleeding, as Miller-McIntyre and Cavanaugh added lay-ups to put Wake Forest up five with less than two minutes to play. Needing a basket to stay within striking distance, Duke repeatedly came up empty, misfiring on five 3-point attempts during the 17-0 run and committing four turnovers.
(03/05/14 10:35am)
Duke emerged from five games in 11 days in relatively good shape, posting a 4-1 record that included emotional wins against Maryland and Syracuse and a disappointing second-half performance against North Carolina. Following last Tuesday’s win against Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils (23-6, 12-4 in the ACC) did something they hadn't done in a while—rest.
(02/28/14 7:57pm)
Rasheed Sulaimon's box score didn't look as pretty as Jabari Parker's but his defense and overall production earn him Player of the Week honors.
(02/24/14 10:16am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Often a sequel leaves an audience disappointed, failing to live up to the greatness of the original. The second installment of Duke-Syracuse was not that kind of sequel.Three weeks ago, Syracuse and Duke played the best college basketball game of the year in front of a record-setting crowd at the Carrier Dome. Saturday night's contest at Cameron Indoor Stadium was just as riveting, but the two games could not have been more different.Perhaps the lone constant between the two contests: Rodney Hood's involvement in a controversial, game-deciding play. The redshirt sophomore's driving dunk attempt merited a play-on in overtime at the Carrier Dome, but Hood got the benefit of the doubt Saturday night, sliding over to draw a charge on a slashing C.J. Fair with 10.4 seconds remaining.To say Orange head coach Jim Boeheim disagreed with the call would be an understatement. The 69-year-old stormed onto the court, unleashing an expletive-laden tirade in the face of the officials and earning himself two technical fouls and an ejection.
(02/23/14 5:55am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For the second straight game, the Blue Devils fell behind early as Syracuse jumped out to a 17-8 largely due to five Duke turnovers in the first nine minutes. Duke had a tough time knocking down shots against Jim Boeheim's famous 2-3 zone out of the gates but recovered to shoot 41.7 percent in the first 20 minutes. A 3-pointer in transition by Jabari Parker cut the deficit to 19-16, but the Orange responded with four straight points to end the Blue Devil run. Parker had the ball stripped multiple times down low, committing four turnovers in the first half. But seven points by Rodney Hood kept the Blue Devils close, as the redshirt sophomore drove aggressively the rim.Observations from the first half:
(02/22/14 11:40pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In a rematch of the best college basketball game so far this season, No. 5 Duke welcomes No. 1 Syracuse to Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday night, the Orange's first trip to Durham as members of the ACC. Both teams are coming off losses—Syracuse's shot at a perfect season was denied by Boston College Wednesday at the Carrier Dome and Duke blew an 11-point second-half lead at North Carolina Thursday—so both teams are sure to come out hungry. Here are tonight's keys to the game if Duke is to even the season series with Syracuse at one game apiece:Regain the 3-point touchWith the exception of the first half against Georgia Tech, Duke has been unusually quiet from behind the arc in its last three game. The Blue Devils shot 5-for-24 from distance against Maryland and were 5-for-22 Thursday in Chapel Hill. In the first meeting between the teams Feb. 1, Duke stayed in the game because of 15 3-pointers, using Amile Jefferson and Jabari Parker at the high post to condense Syracuse's famed 2-3 zone before kicking the ball out to open shooters. Duke must make 10 triples and shoot at or better than 40 percent from behind the arc to have a chance to win.Force Syracuse out of the paintThe Orange lived in the key in the first matchup, scoring 42 points in the paint to keep the lead against Duke for much of the game. Forwards C.J. Fair and Jerami Grant combined for 52 points, and Syracuse attempted just four 3-point shots, making three of them. After getting shellacked on the boards by the Tar Heels and winding up in early, widespread foul trouble against both Syracuse and North Carolina, the Blue Devils must play physical but smart down low and make the Orange beat them from the outside.Frustrate Tyler EnnisThe Syracuse point guard has thrived in the big moment this season, posting 14 points and nine assists in the 91-89 OT win against Duke and hitting a 35-foot runner at the buzzer to steal a win away from Pittsburgh not long after. For 20 minutes Thursday night, Quinn Cook, Rasheed Sulaimon and Tyler Thornton made Marcus Paige's life miserable, keeping him scoreless in the first half. They were unable to finish the job, though, as Paige scored 13 points after the break, including a couple of crucial drives late to put the game out of reach. A victory against Syracuse will require a 40-minute commitment to containing the freshman Ennis.
(02/21/14 9:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>CHAPEL HILL—They had to wait eight extra days, but Rodney Hood and Jabari Parker wasted little time finding the scoring column in the Duke-North Carolina rivalry. It wasn't enough.No. 5 Duke endured an 8:41 span without a field goal as it watched an 11-point second-half lead slip away late in a 74-66 loss to North Carolina at the Dean E. Smith Center Thursday night. Marcus Paige scored all 13 of his points in the second half and Leslie McDonald added a game-high 21 for the Tar Heels, who have now won eight straight after starting 1-4 in ACC play.In that fateful 8:41 drought, the Blue Devils (21-6, 10-4 in the ACC) misfired on 13 consecutive shots, allowing North Carolina to trim a 51-40 lead to 53-51 with 6:26 remaining. But as frigid as the offensive results were, it was a porous second-half Duke defense that allowed the Tar Heels (19-7, 9-4) to fight their way back into the game."We were giving them a lot of easy looks and a lot of easy shots," sophomore Rasheed Sulaimon said. "We didn't fight in the second half.... This was a primetime game, marquee matchup. Nobody's going to use [fatigue] as an excuse. We just didn't show up in the second half."Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said his team was missing an "it" factor after halftime as North Carolina rode the wave of its raucous home crowd."It just felt that we didn't have the life that we needed to have," Krzyzewski said. "I thought we played young.... 'It.' We didn't have 'it,' whatever the hell that thing is. In the second half 'it' wasn't in our huddle."After scoring the first 14 points of last year's 69-53 win in Chapel Hill, the Blue Devils found themselves on the other side of a 6-0 score just one minute into the game. Duke committed four turnovers before it made a field goal, but had just one giveaway the rest of the half while forcing the Tar Heels into nine.In their introductions to the Duke-North Carolina rivalry, the duo of Hood and Parker accounted for 21 of Duke's 37 first-half points. Hood brought the Blue Devils back from the early hole with 11 points in the half's first eight minutes. When the redshirt sophomore picked up his second foul with 12:07 remaining, he handed the reins to Parker, who got a number of high-percentage looks just before halftime, heading to the locker room with 10 points, five rebounds and a seven-point lead for the Blue Devils. Parker finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Hood tallied 16 points but didn't record a board.Duke's guard trio of Sulaimon, Tyler Thornton and Quinn Cook did all they could to frustrate Paige in the opening frame. The Tar Heels' leading scorer was held scoreless before intermission, committing three turnovers and attempting just two shots. Paige's backcourt mate, the rivalry veteran McDonald, picked up the slack for the Tar Heels, scoring 11 first-half points on 5-of-7 shooting.Foul trouble became an issue for the Blue Devils trying to contain a bulky North Carolina frontcourt. Amile Jefferson picked up three fouls in the first 20 minutes and by the 14:12 mark in the second period, Hood, Thornton and Marshall Plumlee had joined him. Whether tentative due to the foul situation or simply undersized, the Blue Devils were handled on the boards 43-30, the first time Duke has been outrebounded by double digits since a Jan. 11 loss at Clemson. James Michael McAdoo made the rebounding margin hurt, finishing with 14 points and 10 boards. Thirty-six of North Carolina's 74 points came in the paint.On the surface, the shooting numbers closely paralleled those from Duke's 69-67 win against Maryland—the Blue Devils were 5-for-22 from beyond the arc Thursday after going 5-of-24 against the Terrapins. But for Krzyzewski, comparisons between the two games ended there."There are no similarities [to the Maryland game]," Krzyzewski said. "We played with great emotion against Maryland, otherwise we would've lost.... You're not going to beat [North Carolina] without two halves that are worthy of winning, and we played one half that was worthy of winning."Despite the shooting woes, Hood said Duke was able to get the shots it wanted, even as the Tar Heels rotated between man-to-man defense and an extended 1-3-1 zone. Some point-blank misses by Parker and Jefferson kept the momentum in North Carolina's corner, and some good looks from distance continued to rim out."Sometimes you feel a little tight because the ball's not going in—that's just maturing," Hood said. "We got all the shots we wanted to the whole entire game. They were right there."In a second half fragmented by foul calls, the Blue Devils lost their offensive rhythm, allowing the Tar Heels to regain momentum. J.P. Tokoto slammed home a Desmond Hubert miss with 10:27 left to cut the Duke lead to 53-49. A layup by McAdoo tied the score at 60 with 4:14 to go, prompting a timeout by Krzyzewski to stop the bleeding. It didn't work, as McDonald buried a jumper to give North Carolina its first lead since of the half.The fouls continued to pile up for Duke—Parker, Thornton, Jefferson and Plumlee all had four fouls heading into the final four minutes. A much-maligned free-throw shooting team most of the season, the Tar Heels started the game by missing seven of their first eight attempts. The crowd even gave a mock cheer when Tokoto made two in a row. From there, the Tar Heels made 19-of-23 while Duke only got to the line 12 times in the contest, converting on just five attempts.Freshman Nate Britt showed no nerves in the final minute, knocking down four free throws to help the Tar Heels ice the game away. North Carolina students stormed the floor after the victory, which ended a two-game home skid against the Blue Devils.With less than 48 hours to absorb the loss and prepare to face No. 1 Syracuse Saturday night, Krzyzewski warned that his team needs to find the missing intangible—quickly."If we don't [find 'it'], we're going to get beat on Saturday," he said.
(02/21/14 8:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>No. 5 Duke found itself in an early 6-0 hole against rival North Carolina at the Dean E. Smith Center, but recovered quickly and took a 37-30 lead into intermission. The slow start was mostly due to self-inflicted wounds, as the Blue Devils committed four early turnovers before beginning to assert themselves offensively. A Rodney Hood alley-oop on a set play out of a timeout was the first of four straight Blue Devil possessions culminating in points. The redshirt sophomore had a lot to do with the run, pouring in 11 first-half points. After building a six-point lead of their own at 16-10, Duke was unable to make it stick, as a layup by Leslie McDonald put the Tar Heels back in front 20-18 with just over eight minutes remaining.In his first game against North Carolina, freshman Jabari Parker took a little longer to get in a rhythm, finishing the first half with 10 points after finding some high-percentage shots late in the half. Leading scorer Marcus Paige struggled for the Tar Heels as well, as the sophomore was held scoreless.Observations from the first half:
(02/21/14 3:23am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Rivalry will finally be renewed tonight, as No. 5 Duke travels down Tobacco Road to take on North Carolina at the Dean E. Smith Center at 9 p.m. in a makeup game of the originally scheduled Feb. 12 contest postponed by Winter Storm Pax. The Blue Devils are seeking their third consecutive victory in their arch-rival's home gym, but will be tested by a mercurial Tar Heel squad that has been more than up to the challenge of facing top-10 opponents this season. Here are tonight's keys to the game:Control the emotions that rivalry stirs upThe Blue Devils handled the hype surrounding the Syracuse game incredibly well, but the bragging rights of Duke-North Carolina constitute a whole different animal. Duke's two go-to scorers, Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood, have never played against the Tar Heels before—they can't try to force the offense and take shots outside the regular flow of the offense in order to put their stamp on the rivalry. Having to wait an extra eight days because of the wintry weather probably didn't help their nerves as they prepare for their first dose of the hostile Dean Dome crowd. Poor shot selection could cause Duke to fall behind early, which is something it would rather not do against a high-scoring North Carolina offense.Hone in on Paige and McAdooTar Heel floor general Marcus Paige has been electric in North Carolina's marquee wins this season, averaging 22.7 points per game in victories against Louisville, Michigan State and Kentucky. Duke will have to keep him well-guarded beyond the arc, but also cannot afford to give the sophomore driving lanes, where he can find teammates like James Michael McAdoo. The junior is as athletic a forward as the Duke frontcourt will see all season, and will be a force on the boards for the Tar Heels.Win the free-throw battleWhen Duke gets to the charity stripe 20 or more times per game, the end result is usually a positive one for the Blue Devils, who shoot 73.6 percent from the line as a unit despite a sub-par 10-for-20 performance Tuesday night in Atlanta. By contrast, the Tar Heels are a woeful 62.2 percent from the free throw line this season, and have just three players who shoot better than a 70-percent clip. This means that Duke should not be afraid to foul—provided it does not land itself in serious foul trouble. The one person the Blue Devils should avoid sending to the line is Paige, a 89.4 percent free-throw shooter.
(02/20/14 10:16am)
Inclement weather could only put off college basketball’s premiere rivalry for so long.
(02/19/14 9:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>ATLANTA—Hot shooting earned the Blue Devils an early lead. When the shots stopped falling, their defense made it stick.In its first-ever visit to Hank McCamish Pavilion, No. 5 Duke seemed right at home, leading wire-to-wire in a 68-51 victory against Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils raced out to a double-digit lead in the first half thanks to seven 3-pointers and never looked back.Rodney Hood set the tone early for the Blue Devils (21-5, 10-3 in the ACC), drilling his first two attempts from beyond the arc as Duke sprinted to a 12-3 advantage. After shooting just 5-of-24 from distance in Saturday's win against Maryland, the Blue Devils broke out of the mini-slump in a big way in Tuesday's opening stanza, shooting more than 70 percent for much of the first half."We didn't want to take them lightly, especially on the
road," said Hood, who finished with 14 points. "We didn’t want to come out and pace ourselves. We wanted to come out and
try and dominate from the tip. I think we did that for the most part, I think
the beginning of the second half we let up a little bit. We just played great
defense the whole game."On the defensive end, the Blue Devils put aggressive ball pressure on Georgia Tech's guards, playing lockdown perimeter defense that head coach Mike Krzyzewski called "the best it's been all year." Duke limited the Yellow Jackets (13-13, 4-9) to 27 first-half points and forced five turnovers that turned into 10 Blue Devil points."I think our guards did a great job of pressuring and
contesting, and [the Yellow Jackets] weren’t able to get into a rhythm on the offensive end," Duke senior Tyler Thornton said. "[We] just made it tough trying to go one-on-one a lot."By getting the Yellow Jackets out of sync and pushing their guards back toward midcourt, the Blue Devils disrupted Georgia Tech's inside game as well. Center Daniel Miller was held to two points on 1-of-4 shooting, well below his season clip of 11.4 points per game."We thought our ball pressure and contesting
was going to be a key to the ball game, and it would make it harder, make the
passes longer and the vision tougher to see the post," Krzyzewski said. "That helped our big guys."The Yellow Jackets were also stretched thin at the ball-handling positions. Senior guard Trae Golden, Georgia Tech's leading scorer at 13.4 points per game, did not start because of a nagging groin injury. He played 14 minutes in the first half but saw just three more minutes on the court after the break and finished with just two points.Krzyzewski employed five-for-five line changes throughout the first half, rotating players in and out to both keep everyone involved and rested for the remainder of Duke's four-games-in-eight-days gauntlet. After committing three turnovers without registering a single assist against Maryland, point guard Quinn Cook was relegated to the bench in favor of Rasheed Sulaimon. When inserted into the game, the junior responded with seven points in the first half.
