Late First Half Run Lifts Duke over Men's Basketball
11/12/2008 5:17:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, N.C. --- A 17-3 run to end the first half helped put Duke (No. 5 ESPN/USA Today, No. 8 AP) into the 2K Sports Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer semifinals with a 97-54 win over Georgia Southern Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke stays perfect on the young season at 2-0 while GSU drops to 1-1.
“Our team is obviously not ready to play a game of this caliber,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We just weren't ready for a game of this magnitude against a really, really good team.”
Two Brian Zoubek free throws with 2:21 to play in the opening period began a 15-0 Duke run over a 1:36 span. The Blue Devils converted five straight shots from the field and the spurt was capped off by a Kyle Singler dunk. The Eagles missed four straight shots and committed a turnover during that time.
“Our guys just hustled, and they made some great hustle plays, and all of a sudden, it was like a pinball machine -- boom, boom, boom,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Double bonuses. The lights were going on, and, 'Holy mackerel, we're up by a lot of points.'”
Sophomore Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) stopped the bleeding with a three-point play, but David McClure ended the first-half scoring with Duke's third dunk in 1:18 to go into the halftime break up 52-25.
“You just want try to hang in there. I think with two and half to go in the first half it was maybe a 15 or 16-point game and it just got away from us. It's a hard place to play, a tough atmosphere for a young team. [Duke] started pressing, double teaming the ball and they got some easy baskets out of their press. That was obviously the part of the game that totally broke it open.”
Duke opened the game with a 16-4 run and held GSU scoreless for a five-minute stretch on two occasions. The Blue Devils shot 44.7% in the first half while holding the Eagles to 24.2% shooting.
Singler, who was named MVP, scored 18 of his 19 points in the first half to lead all scorers.
Powers totaled a team-high 17 points, thanks to a 7-for-7 performance at the foul line, and senior Julian Allen (Waterbury, Conn.) added 10.
Georgia Southern opens their home schedule Friday night against Reinhardt College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Duke stays perfect on the young season at 2-0 while GSU drops to 1-1.
“Our team is obviously not ready to play a game of this caliber,” said GSU head coach Jeff Price. “We just weren't ready for a game of this magnitude against a really, really good team.”
Two Brian Zoubek free throws with 2:21 to play in the opening period began a 15-0 Duke run over a 1:36 span. The Blue Devils converted five straight shots from the field and the spurt was capped off by a Kyle Singler dunk. The Eagles missed four straight shots and committed a turnover during that time.
“Our guys just hustled, and they made some great hustle plays, and all of a sudden, it was like a pinball machine -- boom, boom, boom,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Double bonuses. The lights were going on, and, 'Holy mackerel, we're up by a lot of points.'”
Sophomore Willie Powers (Gainesville, Fla.) stopped the bleeding with a three-point play, but David McClure ended the first-half scoring with Duke's third dunk in 1:18 to go into the halftime break up 52-25.
“You just want try to hang in there. I think with two and half to go in the first half it was maybe a 15 or 16-point game and it just got away from us. It's a hard place to play, a tough atmosphere for a young team. [Duke] started pressing, double teaming the ball and they got some easy baskets out of their press. That was obviously the part of the game that totally broke it open.”
Duke opened the game with a 16-4 run and held GSU scoreless for a five-minute stretch on two occasions. The Blue Devils shot 44.7% in the first half while holding the Eagles to 24.2% shooting.
Singler, who was named MVP, scored 18 of his 19 points in the first half to lead all scorers.
Powers totaled a team-high 17 points, thanks to a 7-for-7 performance at the foul line, and senior Julian Allen (Waterbury, Conn.) added 10.
Georgia Southern opens their home schedule Friday night against Reinhardt College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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