WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Duke uses huge second half run to blow out VT, 69-44

By Jake Lloyd

Jan 5, 2009

Duke's players claimed there was no magic potion — or Red Bull — in the huddle, but that sure seemed to be the case.

Virginia Tech had just cut Duke's lead to four points early in the second half and had all the momentum. But when the Blue Devils retook the court with about 17 minutes remaining in the teams' ACC opener, they simply owned the Hokies.

The fifth-ranked Devils got every loose ball and just about every rebound, and they turned a close game into an easy 69-44 victory to improve to 12-1 and 1-0 in the ACC.

Kyle Singler scored 19 points and Gerald Henderson added 15 for Duke, which outscored Virginia Tech 30-9 after coach Mike Krzyzewski called the momentum-twisting timeout with the score 39-35.

The Devils hadn't held an opponent to so few points since a 78-43 win over Eastern Kentucky in November 2007. It was Virginia Tech's lowest-scoring output since being held to 41 points in a loss to Massachusetts in January 2000.

"Our defense in the last 17 minutes was outstanding," Krzyzewski said. "We were talking, switching (men).

"It was the best (defensive) half" of the season.

On the other end of the court, Duke used its penchant for 3-point shooting to its advantage — but not by making shots from behind the arc.

After Duke had made five of 10 3-pointers in the first half, Virginia Tech played the Devils tight on the perimeter. And Duke, using its recently installed motion offense, was able to find open men for layups or trips to the free-throw line.

The Devils made 19 of 20 free throws.

And when the layups were off the mark, there was usually a Duke player there to haul in an offensive rebound and score or reset the offense. Of Duke's 30 second-half points, 18 were in the paint, nine were from the free-throw line and three came on a wide-open 3-pointer by Greg Paulus, which extended Duke's lead to 53-39.

Virginia Tech (9-5) never got closer than 13 after that.

"It helps a lot," point guard Nolan Smith said of having several capable 3-point shooters on the floor, "because we look to drive. We feel like the drive (creates) more threes. They were jamming our threes, coming out to us, so we were able to get a lot of stuff in the paint."

In their first ACC battle against a physical, strong team, Duke's unheralded frontcourt passed the test. The Devils won the rebounding battle 38-28, including 22-10 in the second half.

In the first half, big men Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas each picked up three fouls in the first 14 minutes. But after a "don't foul" message from Krzyzewski at halftime, the pair didn't commit one in the second half. And it was Zoubek's putback off his own miss right after the timeout that started Duke's game-clinching spurt.

Duke scored 12 of its 16 second-chance points in the second half. Henderson said that the motion offense has helped the Devils become a better offensive-rebounding team.

"If we're out there waiting for kicks (to the perimeter) and stuff like that, it's a lot easier to (defensively) rebound (against us) because we're coming from so far," Henderson said. "But when you've got guys in different positions, you may not know when the shot's going up just because there's so many guys moving.

"It's definitely easier to get offensive rebounds."

But as good as Duke was at extending its second-half possessions, its defensive intensity created the tone during the game's most crucial minutes. Virginia Tech's "Big 3" of A.D. Vassalo, Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen entered the contest averaging 49.6 points per game. On Sunday night they were held to 26, with Delaney the only Hokie to reach double figures with 12.

Duke was particularly effective guarding Vassalo, who was averaging a team-high 19 points per game. Whether it was Jon Scheyer, David McClure or Henderson guarding the 6-foot-6 senior, they stayed in front of him and didn't allow any open looks at the basket.

Vassalo scored just seven points on 3-of-9 shooting, was visibly frustrated all night, and was pulled from the game with over 6 minutes remaining and his team down by more than 20 points.

"It's tough with him because he can really shoot the basketball, but at the same time he's good at driving," Henderson said. "So you want to get him to shoot contested jumpers."

That's exactly what Duke did against all the Hokies after that game-changing timeout. And Vassalo, Delaney and Allen scored three points the rest of the game — with Vassalo held scoreless.

The game marked the Devils' lowest-scoring output of the season. But with stellar defense and a will to rebound, nobody was talking about the lack of points afterward.

"The game was over after (Krzyzewski's) timeout," Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "Their guys responded and ours didn't.

"It's that simple."