Duke Blue Devils
Monday night's 83-61 drubbing against No. 10 Duke in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Classic wasn't one for the Tigers to write home about.
Duke went on a 32-2, nine-minute run early in the game to drop Princeton to the consolation bracket of the 24th annual tournament and could have named the final score. The Blue Devils, behind freshman Kyle Singler's game-high totals of 21 points and 13 rebounds, handed Tigers rookie coach Sydney Johnson his first loss while advaning to today's semifinals of the eight-team tournament at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Princeton (2-1) next faces either Arizona State or Illinois at 4 p.m. today (ESPNU).
Duke (3-0), which has won the tournament three times and is 10-0 all-time in it, pressured Princeton in full-court and in half-court defensive sets, and went right at the outclassed Tigers offensively with its taller, superior players to make the game a one-sided affair quite early.
Somewhere down the line, the Tigers might talk about how they were beating Duke. Of course, that occurred when center Zach Finley dropped in a layup for a 2-0 lead with 19:24 left in the first half. Singler then put back an offensive rebound on Duke's next possession to jumpstart the Blue Devils' dominance.
Singler, a 6-foot-8 forward, scored 10 of the Blue Devils' first 12 points in the first 4 minutes, 1 second, to put them ahead 12-2.
Princeton guard Matt Sargeant drove for a layup to stop Duke's 12-0 run, but, incredibly, the Blue Devils came right back with a 19-0 run to make it 31-4. Included in the second big run was a four-point play by Jon Scheyer. Finley's layup at the 9:54 mark then stopped the run.
The Tigers began to play better after they trailed by as much as 30 points, but Duke didn't need as much intensity. The Blue Devils' halftime lead was 52-31, with Singler scoring 17 points on 7-of-8 field-goal shooting.
Lincoln Gunn led Princeton in scoring for the second straight game with 16 points, including 11 in the first half, on 6 of 9 shooting. Sargeant and Noah Savage added nine points each.
Gerald Henderson and Scheyer joined Singler in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Blue Devils held a 39-21 edge in rebounds.
Guard Greg Paulus crouched in front of his locker deep inside Cameron Indoor Stadium one afternoon late last month, his hands propped on his knees, a small bruise under one eye, a white butterfly bandage affixed to the bridge of his nose. For an afternoon, at least, Paulus appeared to be more of a boxer than a basketball player. "Just got caught in practice," Paulus said. "Not a big deal." No, not after the collective beating the Duke men's basketball team incurred a season ago, both on the court and in the operating room. The Blue Devils struggled throughout the second half of the regular season and dropped out of The Associated Press top 25 poll for the first time in nearly 11 seasons. They limped to six losses in their last 10 games prior to the postseason. And they lost in the first round of both the ACC and NCAA tournaments for the first time since 1996. Then they hobbled to the hospital. In all, five Blue Devils underwent surgery at some point following what was perhaps the most frustrating season since coach Mike Krzyzewski arrived on campus in 1980. Call it a rebuilding season of a very different sort. "We have had to start over," Paulus said. But now, almost every player is healed and prepared for the season. And Krzyzewski is refreshed, his choice of words, after he relaxed for nearly a month along the coast with his family, then coached the U.S. men's national team for bulk of the summer. "I feel good about our team," Krzyzewski said. "We're deep. Right now, we're looking for some separation, who will separate themselves from the other guys. I guess the best of all worlds is if they don't separate, but instead if they all get really good." Which is a distinct possibility. Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils, 22-11 overall and 8-8 in conference games last season, will return nearly every player. Only center Josh McRoberts, who declared early for the NBA Draft and was selected 37th overall by the Portland Trail Blazers, and reserve guard Joe Pagliuca are gone. Paulus is back. So is guard DeMarcus Nelson, who averaged 14.1 points last season and was voted the lone team captain last month by coaches and players. So is guard Jon Scheyer. And center Brian Zoubek. And forward Lance Thomas. And guard Gerald Henderson. Oh, and don't forget about the freshmen. Forward Kyle Singler, whom Krzyzewski said might already be the best player on the team, shined throughout the exhibition games and will likely start Friday against N.C. Central. Guard Nolan Smith is expected to run the point for long stretches off the bench. And forward Taylor King reminded a handful of veteran players of guard J.J. Redick, at least when he released his shot. "None of those guys is scared," Scheyer said. "They don't play like freshmen." And neither will the Blue Devils. Not this season. Not after rubbing away the wounds of so much figurative and literal pain.
Name: Tom Koeppel
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