Duke Sports

Saturday, March 20, 2010

KANSAS LOST!!!

Nothing more need be said, the Jay Hawks lost to Northern Iowa 69 to 67, now Dukes chance to win have got way bigger!!!

Dukes Biggest Fears are Gone!!!

  
10
75
(28-5, 11-3 WCC)           

2
68
(25-8, 13-5 Big East)
  • Final, Villanova seemed to be the team the Duke would have to beat to get to the final four. But ESPN researchers had been saying that Nova was playing very poorly, and not living to there hopes.  After Nova almost lost to 15 seeded Robert Morris in OT it seemed that there were not doing so good. Now Duke has a better shot at winning there area and making it to Indi. 

Duke Cruises Through First Tournament Win, Scores, Highlights, and Stats!!!

Duke 74 ARPB 44
            This score is typical for a 1 vs. 16 seed game. Duke now has much bigger teams to play including Cal on sunday. Duke really did not play the best but i would think the Coach K told them not to get to tired, so they can play there best against Cal. 

Duke makes short work of Arkansas-Pine Bluff in opener

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PHOTO WIRE
JACKSONVILLE, FL - MARCH 19: Jon Scheyer #30 of the Duke Blue Devils grabs a rebound over George Davis #22 of the...
(Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
TEAM STAT COMPARISON
ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFFDUKE
Points4473
FG Made-Attempted17-53 (.321)24-47 (.511)
3P Made-Attempted4-19 (.211)6-13 (.462)
FT Made-Attempted6-7 (.857)19-28 (.679)
Fouls (Tech/Flagrant)19 (0/0)12 (0/0)
Largest Lead031
GAME LEADERS
 ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFFDUKE
PointsT. Washington 9K. Singler 22
ReboundsG. Davis 5K. Singler 10
AssistsT. Washington 2N. Smith 5
StealsT. Washington 3N. Smith 2
BlocksL. Weathers 2M. Plumlee 3
 · Team Stats: Arkansas-Pine Bluff | Duke
GAME FLOW
SERIES
DATEGAMELINKS
· Mar 19, 2010@DUKE 73, ARPB 44Recap | Box Score
Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Duke's confident mascot wore a piece of tape across his forehead that read: "Played In, Blown Out."

The Blue Devils didn't disappoint.

Avoiding the upset bug that has taken down several favorites in the NCAA tournament, the top-seeded Atlantic Coast Conference champions opened play in the South Regional with a dominating 73-44 victory Friday night over No. 16 seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

Jacksonville analysis

Complete coverage and analysis from the Jacksonville sub-regional, courtesy of ESPN.com's Brian Bennett. Blog
• Nation blog
• Tourney home

"That really didn't cross our minds, that happening to us, the 1 vs. 16," Duke's Jon Scheyer said.

"This was a springboard for us. We were limiting them to one shot and rebounding well," fellow senior Lance Thomas added. "If we continue doing that we'll beat anybody in the tournament."

Kyle Singler had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Duke, which never trailed. Scheyer scored 13 and Thomas 12. Nolan Smith added 10 points on a subpar shooting night (3 for 10) for the junior guard.

Fast Facts

• Kyle Singler led all scorers with 22 points and Duke never trailed.

• Jon Scheyer added 13 points and moved into the top 10 in school history in points.

• With the win, Duke has 30 wins in a season for the 11th time in school history.

•  The 44 points are the third fewest ever allowed by the Blue Devils in the NCAA tournament.

-- ESPN Stats & Information

The victory gave coach Mike Krzyzewski his 11th 30-win season in three decades at Duke, which has made 10 trips to the Final Four under him, though none since 2006.

The Blue Devils (30-5) played like a team intent on changing that, pressing their overmatched opponents to start the game, building a 39-20 halftime lead and never giving Arkansas-Pine Bluff (18-16) a sense that the SWAC champions might have a chance to win.

"It's nice to have," Krzyzewski said of another 30-win season, though he wasn't sure how many the Blue Devils have under him.

Told it's 11, he replied: "That's a lot of wins. ... The best thing is to have 31 and move on," to the round of 16, which is what a victory Sunday would do.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff, appearing in the NCAAs for the first time, beat Winthrop 61-44 in the tournament opener Tuesday and are led by coach George Ivory, who played on a heavy underdog that gave powerful Duke a scare in the opening round 24 years ago.

But this group of Blue Devils has learned they can't take anything for granted in March.

Duke survived a first-round scare against Belmont two years ago, and Krzyzewski and his players were determined to set the tone for what it hopes will be a strong run with a sharp performance.

"I thought we handled both halfs really well," Krzyzewski said. "It wasn't a sloppy game."

Pine Bluff shot 32 percent and turned the ball over 16 times. Tavaris Washingtonled the Golden Lions with nine points. They turned in a respectable defensive performance, but struggled to score against Duke's bigger, more physical frontcourt.

"I think they got a little nervous," said Ivory, whose team had won 18 of 22 going into the game. "Sometimes you play not to lose and we were trying to not make mistakes."

The Golden Lions spent November and December crisscrossing the country, playing -- and losing -- their first 11 games on the road against steep competition that included Kansas State, Missouri, Michigan, Oklahoma State, Arizona State, Colorado, UTEP, Georgia Tech and Oregon.

Instead of damaging the Golden Lions' confidence, the tough competition more than prepared Ivory's team for the SWAC and the "play-in game" against Winthrop that earned them a date with Duke.

As a player, Ivory was part of a Mississippi Valley State team that was seeded 16th and gave top-seeded Duke all it could handle in the opening round in 1986 -- the year Krzyzewski led the Blue Devils to the Final Four for the first time.

"I think this is going to help our program," Ivory said. "We accomplished some things that we've never done. ... We've got to keep working and get a little better."