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Devils cruise again
Tough defense helps Duke rip Georgia Southern 97-54
AP Photo
Duke’s Brian Zoubek (55) and Jon Scheyer get tangled up with Georgia Southern’s Krzysztof Janiszewski for a loose ball.
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Published: November 12, 2008
DURHAM - Duke overwhelmed Georgia Southern with defense and quickness last night, cruising to a 97-54 win in the second round of the 2K Sports Classic Benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament.
Duke, forcing missed shots and grabbing rebounds, went on a 17-3 run in the final 2:27 of the first half to take a commanding 52-25 halftime lead at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke kept up the pressure and built its lead to 62-29 in the first three minutes after halftime.
One play in the second half was indicative of Duke's defense. Sandy Perry of Georgia Southern soared on the right side of the basket and tried to dunk, but Gerald Henderson sped in from the lane to slam the ball hard off the backboard and stop the shot.
Duke improved to 2-0 and Georgia Southern fell to 1-1. Duke will advance to the tournament's semifinals on Nov. 20 in New York's Madison Square Garden.
Henderson said that the effort was much stronger than that of opening night, when Duke took a ragged win over Presbyterian in the first round.
"I think on offense we played a little more loose," Henderson said. "We played a little more together. We felt tonight's game should be fun for us; just playing together and feeding off each other and feeding off our defense."
Sophomore forward Kyle Singler again led Duke's effort with his hustling play. Singler sparked an effort that shoved the ball inside repeatedly and coaxed fouls from Georgia Southern that helped Duke shoot 27 free throws in the first half.
Duke made only 14 of the attempts, however, which prevented it from taking control of the game much earlier. Duke made only 25 of 49 free throws in the game.
Singler led Duke with 19 points and eight rebounds. Nolan Smith added 13 points and Jon Scheyer had seven assists. Henderson scored 11 points and Greg Paulus came off the bench for the second consecutive game to score 11 points.
"I thought Singler was amazing," Coach Mike Krzyzewski of Duke said.
Willie Powers led Georgia Southern with 17 points.
Duke, playing tight man-for-man defense, disrupted Georgia Southern's offensive flow almost from the start. Georgia Southern went without a basket for 5:12 early in the first half while Duke built a 16-4 lead.
Duke was up 24-13 when Georgia Southern went another 6:32 between baskets. Duke's lead was only 35-22 after Georgia Southern ended the basketless period, mostly because of missed free throws, but it roared away starting 18 seconds later.
Brian Zoubek, a 7-0 junior who started at center, made two free throws to get the scorching run started. Duke was up 39-22 when Scheyer drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing. Smith then scored on a breakaway dunk and the lead was 22 points.
Singler made a free throw. Smith popped in a 3-pointer. Singler dunked. The lead was 50-22 with 39 seconds left.
"Coach wanted us to end the half strong," Henderson said. "We kind of switched it up. We put a little more pressure on their point guard. We got some double teams. Guys made plays."
Coach Jeff Price of Georgia Southern said that Duke's defense pushed his team out of almost everything that it wanted to do offensively.
"They got some easy baskets out of their press," Price said. "We just folded the last three minutes of the half. It was really costly. It was reasonable at that point, only 15 or 16 (points difference) but that was obviously the part of the game that just totally broke it open."
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN -- Pearson 1-4 1-3 4, Ward 0-3 2-2 2, Hanson 2-11 0-0 5, Allen 5-9 0-0 10, Powers 5-15 7-7 17, Johnson 0-3 1-3 1, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Janiszewski 1-2 0-2 2, Brannen 0-1 0-0 0, Troupe 0-4 2-2 2, Drayton III 1-3 0-1 2, Perry 0-2 0-0 0, Marshall 2-3 0-1 6, Wohlleb 1-4 0-0 3. Totals 18-64 13-21 54.
DUKE -- Singler 5-7 9-12 19, Henderson 4-7 2-4 11, Zoubek 2-6 2-2 6, Smith 5-10 0-0 13, Scheyer 3-11 1-3 8, Paulus 2-4 5-8 11, Pocius 3-7 2-2 9, Czyz 1-1 0-2 2, McClure 2-4 0-0 4, Williams 1-3 2-4 4, Plumlee 2-3 1-4 5, Thomas 2-3 1-8 5, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-66 25-49 97.
Halftime--Duke 52-25. 3-Point Goals--Georgia Southern 5-19 (Marshall 2-3, Pearson 1-1, Hanson 1-3, Wohlleb 1-4, Troupe 0-1, Johnson 0-1, Perry 0-1, Powers 0-5), Duke 8-19 (Smith 3-4, Paulus 2-4, Henderson 1-2, Pocius 1-3, Scheyer 1-5, Singler 0-1). Fouled Out--Perry. Rebounds--Georgia Southern 36 (Troupe 8), Duke 58 (Williams 11). Assists--Georgia Southern 6 (Hanson 5), Duke 17 (Scheyer 7). Total Fouls--Georgia Southern 28, Duke 23. Technical--Georgia Southern Bench. A--9,314.
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