Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler got their points, Mason Plumlee and Miles made theirs, and fourth-ranked Duke played its best game of the conference season, punctuated at the end with a bear hug from Mike Krzyzewski on the junior Miles Plumlee.It was an embrace one year in the making.
Smith and Singler combined for 40 points, and Duke's supporting cast came to life, led by the Plumlees' strong play in the post, as the No. 4 Blue Devils avenged last year's humbling loss to the Wolfpack with a 92-78 win in Raleigh.
The Blue Devils made it clear early they were in no mood for a repeat performance of last year or Saturday's slow start against Virginia. Duke jumped out to an 11-3 lead, took a 14-point advantage at halftime and withheld a series of Wolfpack runs in the second half that could get N.C. State no closer than five points.
Tracy Smith led the Wolfpack with 19 points and freshman point guard Ryan Harrow, who did not get his second straight start but played most of the game in place of senior Javier Gonzalez, added 15.
How It Was Won: Duke's supporting cast. You might not have noticed, but the Blue Devils' primary water carriers, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, started a combined 10 of 30 from the floor and 1 of 12 from behind the 3-point arc. Typically that'd be about as hard a thing to miss as Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe's red blazer on a polar bear, as Duke's offense would sputter. But the supporting cast stepped up. Andre Dawkins scored six quick points to stake the Blue Devils an early lead. Forward Ryan Kelly hit all four of his shots and scored 11 points. Tyler Thornton hit his first 3-pointer of the season. Seth Curry added eight.
But the key players were the Plumlees, on both ends of the court. Older brother Miles scored 13 points off the bench and pulled down nine rebounds. The sophomore Mason scored five, corralled nine rebounds and blocked seven shots. The aggressive defense set the tone for a first half which Duke would wrap with a 14-point advantage. N.C. State hit just 8-of-37 shots in the first half, mostly because a Plumlee or Ryan Kelly was hovering within smell-your-chewing gum distance and forcing 'Pack players to adjust their shots.
Credit Duke's perimeter defense as well. Where Maryland, Florida State and Virginia had success beating Duke's extended perimeter defense off the dribble and passing into the spot vacated by Duke's interior help defense, Nolan Smith and the Duke guards did a much better job of keeping Ryan Harrow and Javier Gonzalez out of the lane.
How It Was Lost: N.C. State's youth, or lack of poise, or whatever exactly kept so many of the 'Pack's first-half shots out of the basket. Credit Duke for forcing the Wolfpack to adjust on most shots, but more than a few makeable layups spun out, fell off the rim or just wouldn't go down. As a result, when N.C. State played a much better half (54.8 percent from the floor), the gap was simply too large to put much pressure on the Devils.
Still, it was a glimpse of what's to come for the Wolfpack. Whether Lowe returns to coach his recruiting haul remains to be seen, but next year's team will have a nice core of players to work with.
Stat of the Game: Three fouls. Of all the impressive numbers for the Plumlees Wednesday night, maybe the best was what wasn't there. The foul-plagued brothers committed just three fouls between them.
What It Means: Duke's win won't pick up all that much attention, over an unranked and overshadowed team the Blue Devils have beaten in 29 of their last 34 meetings, but it should. The Wolfpack are a better club than their seven losses indicate, with four of those losses coming without star Tracy Smith and the other two prior to Wednesday night coming on the road to Boston College and on the road to Florida State, where Duke lost a week earlier. A season ago, a less talented Wolfpack team blitzed the eventual national champions as Smith powered his way to an easy 23 points. Saturday, the Plumlees and Kelly contained the Wolfpack star. Smith still scored 19 points, but it wasn't nearly as easy as a season ago.
What remains to be see is if the Plumlees can repeat the effort consistently. A season ago, the brothers dominated Wake Forest in a hard-fought win at Cameron before falling further behind Lance Thomas and eventually Brian Zoubek in the Blue Devils' rotation.
Source: http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2011/01/19/plumlee-brothers-step-up-as-duke-downs-n-c-state/
Artest, Ron Arthur, Darrell Asik, Omer Augustin, D.J. Azubuike, Kelenna
No comments:
Post a Comment