Duke cruises past Saint Louis 84-47

Smith becoming more comfortable replacing Irving

By: Bill Cole | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: December 12, 2010

DURHAM

Saint Louis didn’t have a prayer yesterday against Duke, not even with Kyrie Irving sitting on the bench sidelined by a toe injury.

The Blue Devils powered to their 20th consecutive victory, shaking off a rough first 10 minutes at Cameron Indoor Stadium to win 84-47, the second consecutive victory without Irving.

The Blue Devils got into a relatively smooth offensive flow about midway through the first half behind the play of Nolan Smith, now the point guard, and had a 40-16 halftime lead that was never threatened.

“These last couple of days in practice I’ve gotten more comfortable running the point-guard position,” Smith said. “Coach told me once I give (the ball) up, stay in a scoring mindset and stay aggressive so I can make plays.”

The Billikens tried to make a run after halftime and actually cut the lead to 18 points, but the Blue Devils’ defense forced more turnovers and the lead was quickly rebuilt. The Blue Devils led by 30 points twice and then by 32 when Miles Plumlee hit a soft four-foot left-handed hook shot in the lane for a 63-31 margin with 8:30 left.

Duke forward Kyle Singler said he thought the offensive flow was better against Saint Louis than it was against Bradley on Wednesday night with Irving out for the first time, but he said the defense was the crucial edge.

“I thought our defense did a good job the whole game,” Singler said. “We made them miss some shots and turn the ball over. That’s something we’re going to have to do now, at a higher level since Kyrie’s out. We’re going to have to focus on our defense.”

Duke improved to 10-0 and gave Coach Mike Krzyzewski the 878th win of his career, including five years at his alma mater, Army.

He needs two more wins to pass Dean Smith, a former North Carolina coach, for second-place all-time among major-college coaches.

Krzyzewski left immediately after the game to tend to an unspecified family matter and didn’t speak to reporters.

Saint Louis fell to 3-4.

Smith led Duke with 22 points and Singler added 21. Freshman forward Josh Hairston added 12 points off the bench and reserve guard Seth Curry scored 11. Assistant coach Chris Collins said he thought the bench’s play was crucial.

Irving was using crutches after having his right foot placed in a hard cast on Friday to protect his injured big toe. Collins said the extent of the damage is still unknown.

“The doctors we’ve consulted with feel that that right now is the best course of action,” Collins said. “We’re still figuring out what’s going to be the best long-term treatment. He’s in good spirits.”

Mike McCall led the Billikens with 15 points. They had 22 turnovers, 18 of them committed by four freshmen.

Smith, a senior, was a completely different player in his second game at point guard than the first game against Bradley. He missed all eight of his shots against Bradley, but hit eight of 13 attempts against Saint Louis.

Smith was more aggressive in everything he did at the position. He handed out another five assists, giving him 15 in two games, grabbed six rebounds and hit his only 3-point shot.

Smith said that he is trying to emulate Jon Scheyer, who helped Duke win last season’s NCAA title by playing point guard after moving from shooting guard.

“The first thing Coach told me after the (Bradley) game was to kind of be like Jon was last year; not a true point, but just a player,” Smith said. “I have to set the team up, but once I give the ball up be aggressive.”

bcole@wsjournal.com

SAINT LOUIS — Remekun 0-3 0-0 0, Loe 2-7 0-0 4, Jett 2-10 3-4 7, McCall 6-9 2-2 15, Cassity 1-1 0-0 2, Eckerle 1-2 0-0 2, Daly 0-0 0-0 0, Conklin 3-5 1-2 7, Salecich 0-2 0-0 0, Evans 2-5 2-2 6, Ellis 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 19-49 8-10 47.

DUKE — Ma. Plumlee 1-3 1-2 3, Singler 8-15 3-6 21, Mi. Plumlee 3-7 3-4 9, Smith 8-13 5-7 22, Dawkins 1-2 0-0 2, Thornton 0-0 0-0 0, Hairston 4-5 4-6 12, Curry 4-7 0-0 11, Kelly 2-6 0-0 4, Zafirovski 0-0 0-0 0, Peters 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-58 16-25 84.

Halftime—Duke 40-16. 3-Point Goals—Saint Louis 1-7 (McCall 1-2, Salecich 0-1, Loe 0-2, Ellis 0-2), Duke 6-10 (Curry 3-5, Singler 2-4, Smith 1-1). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Saint Louis 29 (Evans, Loe 6), Duke 32 (Mi. Plumlee 9). Assists—Saint Louis 11 (Cassity, Jett 3), Duke 18 (Curry 6). Total Fouls—Saint Louis 18, Duke 14. A—9,314.