Duke Shakes Off Post Exam Rust Shoots Past UNCG - SCACCHoops.com

Duke Shakes Off Post Exam Rust Shoots Past UNCG

by WebMaster

Posted: 12/20/2011 7:05:33 AM


Game Central

Game Recap

It looked like Duke hadn't played a game in about nine days for a good bit of the first half Monday night. That didn't mean Mike Krzyzewski was going to use that as an excuse or be happy about what he was seeing from his team.

It took a few animated timeouts and not very long at half time (Duke came back out with six minutes remaining in the half-time break) to get Duke motivated to play their brand of basketball. The final result a 90-63 win over UNCG.

The Blue Devils shook off the post-exam rust and by the second half they were hitting on all cylinders.

Austin Rivers had a very solid first half showing but of all the starters it was probably Mason Plumlee who emerged as a force for Duke.

The middle Plumlee clearly was the dominant force in the post for Duke and it was clear that UNCG as well as they played early had no answer for him as he finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds on the game.

The Spartans came to play as they fed off the energy bought by their new interim coach Wes Miller who was coaching in his second game as the UNCG coach following Mike Dement's resignation.

Miller who played for UNCG during the middle of the last decade was on the 2007 National Title team, but was a reserve as much as the announcers tried to make it seem like Krzyzewski had to devise ways to stop  him when he was in the game.

But once Duke got going this game was over.

There were very few positives in the first half; too many turnovers, poor shooting, poor decisions and an inability to get back in transition and play defense.

The second half was the complete opposite as Duke turned up the defensive pressure at the end of the first half taking an 11-point lead into the half and not letting up.

One of the most encouraging stats from the game was the play in terms of minutes and performance from Duke's bench.

All of Duke's regular scholarship players played double-digit minutes and even little used Todd Zafirvoski got into the game. Quinn Cook was the most impressive playing 18 minutes scoring 14 points on 6-7 shooting and dishing out two assists.

Duke had five players in double digits including two bench players and shot 53 percent from the floor on the night.

So a sloppy start had a positive end. We will take a further look at this game and the upcoming schedule which includes another very long break as Duke will not play again until December 30.

An 11-day break which will give the players even more time to rest mentally, physically, and hopefully get some practices in so they don't look as bad coming into their next contest against Western Michigan.

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