Veterans lift Duke: Blue Devils pull away in second half to win 74-49

Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, two cool-headed veterans, responded immediately to growing pressure last night in sparking Duke to a 74-49 win over Coastal Carolina in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Coastal Carolina chopped Duke's lead to 33-23 with 17:58 left, but Duke held firm and steadily pulled away. Scheyer and Singler combined to score 12 of Duke's next 14 points in building a 47-28 lead with 11:52 remaining, and Duke was headed to today's second round.

Duke, 2-0, will play UNC Charlotte, which defeated Elon 75-61 in last night's second game, at 6 p.m. at Cameron. Nolan Smith, a junior guard for Duke, will return today after serving a two-game suspension for unsanctioned summer-league play.

Scheyer had been unusually quiet in scoring in the first half, which ended with Duke in front 33-19, but perked up once Coastal Carolina made its run. He nailed a 3-point shot from the right baseline to build Duke's lead to 13 points, for his only basket of the game.

Scheyer made two free throws, and Singler then hit a 17-foot jumper from the left side. By the time that they were finished, Duke was back in control and Coastal Carolina did not threaten seriously again.

Scheyer said that his burst was not a conscious move on his part to contribute more scoring in a tight spot, but a product of the flow of the game and Coastal Carolina's defense.

"There just wasn't much there in a game like that," Scheyer said. "They were focusing a lot on Kyle and myself. It's not something where I need to force anything.

"The main thing was that we just needed to get good shots, if that meant I was taking the shots or our big guys were getting shots down low. That one I got a good look and hit it."

Singler led Duke with 23 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots. Andre Dawkins, a freshman guard, added 13 points, and hit two 3-pointers just after Duke had regained control that helped build a 55-32 lead.

Scheyer and Miles Plumlee scored 10 points each for Duke. Scheyer fashioned eight points after halftime. He handed out five assists and didn't have a turnover.

Mario Edwards scored 12 points to lead Coastal Carolina (1-1). Coastal Carolina will play Elon in today's consolation game, which will be played after the 6 p.m. game.

Singler and Scheyer foiled Coastal Carolina's defensive strategy. Coach Cliff Ellis, returning to Cameron for the first time since his days at Clemson, had his team play a triangle-and-two defense among other alignments, all designed to limit the damage that Duke's duo could inflict.

"We played ‘junk' defense," Ellis said. "We were just trying to play a mind game with Duke. That triangle was centered around keeping those big guys from having (the ball) on the block. We wanted to take Singler and Scheyer out of the game."

Duke used a 3-2 zone defense on several possessions in both halves. The defense had Lance Thomas, who is 6-8, or Singler, who is 6-9, out front near the top of the key, with two big men at the basket on either side of the lane. The defense, along with Duke's usual man-to-man pressure, helped overcome a staggering start. Duke suffered turnovers on its first four possessions and Coastal Carolina streaked to a 6-0 lead.

Duke needed five minutes to even the score and didn't take its first lead until 14:22 was left in the first half when Dawkins hit his first 3-point shot. Scheyer said that Duke did not underestimate Coastal Carolina in falling behind early.

"We expected for them to throw some different defenses at us," Scheyer said. "They were something we were prepared to go against. I just didn't think we were strong with the ball at the beginning. Give them credit. They did a really good job."

bcole@wsjournal.com.

COASTAL Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Harris 27 2-9 2-2 3-7 0 1 6

McLaurin 27 2-7 0-0 3-8 1 2 4

Johnson 27 3-8 0-0 2-3 2 3 7

Edwards 29 3-11 4-6 2-5 0 4 12

Greenwood 38 2-8 0-2 1-3 3 2 4

Moore 17 2-7 1-2 0-0 1 2 7

Evans 10 0-1 0-0 1-3 0 2 0

Lee 1 1-1 1-2 0-0 0 0 4

Griffin 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Pack 23 1-4 3-5 1-1 1 2 5

Totals 200 16-56 11-19 15-34 8 18 49

Percentages: FG .286, FT .579. 3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Edwards 2-5, Moore 2-6, Lee 1-1, Johnson 1-4, Evans 0-1). Team Rebounds: 4. Blocked Shots: 1 (McLaurin). Turnovers: 14 (Johnson 4, Greenwood 4, Edwards 3, Pack 2, Harris). Steals: 5 (Harris, Johnson, Greenwood, Edwards, Pack). Technical Fouls: None.

DUKE Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Singler 36 8-14 5-5 4-11 1 1 23

Czyz 13 1-3 0-0 1-5 1 1 2

MiPlumlee 24 4-5 2-2 2-6 0 4 10

Thomas 26 3-7 3-4 1-3 2 3 9

Scheyer 37 1-5 7-7 0-2 5 2 10

Dawkins 25 5-14 0-0 1-2 3 2 13

Kelly 17 0-4 0-0 0-3 2 2 0

Davidson 3 0-0 1-2 0-0 0 0 1

Johnson 3 0-0 2-2 0-0 0 0 2

Zoubek 16 2-2 0-2 3-5 0 2 4

Totals 200 24-54 20-24 13-40 14 17 74

Percentages: FG .444, FT .833. 3-Point Goals: 6-23, .261 (Dawkins 3-11, Singler 2-5, Scheyer 1-2, Czyz 0-1, Kelly 0-4). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 5 (Singler 2, Kelly 2, Mi.Plumlee). Turnovers: 12 (Thomas 5, Singler 2, Mi.Plumlee 2, Czyz 2, Zoubek). Steals: 4 (Thomas, Dawkins, Kelly, Zoubek). Technical Fouls: None.

Coastal Carolina 19 30 -- 49


Duke 33 41 -- 74

A--9,314.