WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Duke keeps Curry under wraps for most of 79-67 win over Davidson

By Jake Lloyd

Jan 8, 2009

Stephen Curry wasn't a no-show inside Cameron Indoor Stadium Wednesday night.

He didn't light up the host Blue Devils either.

The preseason All-American from Davidson scored 29 points, but 15 of them came during the final 11 minutes when the Wildcats attempted to stage a miraculous comeback from a 25-point deficit.

Davidson got as close as eight points, but ultimately it was too little, too late as the second-ranked Devils (13-1) held on for a 79-67 victory.

Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler scored 22 points apiece and Gerald Henderson added 11 for Duke, which almost always had a player draped over Curry. In fact, the Devils used a whopping seven players against the 6-foot-3 guard in the game's first 10 minutes.

That's the luxury the Devils have. Not only can point guard Nolan Smith defend a player like Curry, using his quickness to stay in front of the junior. A player like the 6-foot-8 Singler can also face Curry up, towering over him.

While Smith guarded Curry the most, Duke switched on everything that resembled a screen for the point guard. That left Singler, David McClure, Lance Thomas, Henderson and Scheyer taking on Curry. And Greg Paulus took on Smith's duties when he needed a breather.

Curry accounted for his 29 points by shooting 10 of 22 from the field and eight of nine from the free-throw line, and Andrew Lovedale added 15 points and seven rebounds for the Wildcats (10-3).

But with the exception of a few second-half lapses, the Devils always had at least two sets of eyes on No. 30 in the red uniform. And containing him was a big reason Duke jumped out to a seemingly insurmountable 63-38 lead with less than 12 minutes to play.

"It's a special team that can be able to do that," Curry said of facing so many defenders. "They can, I guess, throw different guys at you and not miss a beat.

"So I've seen a lot of defenses, a lot of different personnel throughout games, but they did a great job tonight."

While Duke's offense struggled early, the Devils stuck to Curry from the opening tip. With not much room to operate — not to mention bigger hands constantly in his face — he turned it over on three of Davidson's first five possessions.

The Wildcats didn't score in the game's first three and a half minutes, and Curry didn't attempt a shot until the 11:53 mark of the first half — a 3-pointer that missed badly. He misfired on his first four shots and didn't score until he weaved through traffic for a left-handed layup nearly 14 minutes into the game.

While Curry occasionally was able to get to the rim against the Devils, they held him to just a single 3-pointer on eight attempts. Curry's outside shots are usually the momentum-changers for Davidson, but Wednesday the Wildcats had to fight back from the inside.

Davidson made just four of 17 3-pointers.

"That's something we wanted to take away," Scheyer said of the 3-pointers. "He's going to make shots, he takes a lot of shots a game, and you just want to try to limit him as much as possible."

"Limit" is exactly what the Devils did. Curry entered the evening averaging 29.2 points per game, an average he fell just short of. And with the exception of two fouls on 3-pointers — one after the game was decided in the final minute — the Devils were pleased with their defense on the potential national player of the year.

Only once did Curry score consecutive baskets without a Duke score in between, and his six assists were offset by seven turnovers.

"I thought we did a good job on Curry defending his three(s)," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He didn't get open looks. He's a hell of a player, and he's just never out of it.

"We have confidence in Kyle, Dave and Lance to cover a guard. And I think they did a good job just keeping length on him."

What the Devils also did well for most of the game was communicate. Scheyer regretted a Davidson possession on which Curry drove unimpeded to the hoop for a layup. But that was the exception.

For the majority of the night, the Devils constantly talked to each other on the court about Curry's whereabouts. When he didn't have the ball, they yelled out any off-the-ball screen and promptly switched men. When he had possession, they came close to double-teaming him with the nearest defender but made sure to not leave any Davidson player wide-open.

"It's huge, it's a big part because you can't read each other's mind at all," Singler said. "And you got to let each other know what you're doing. You definitely come in with a game plan, but sometimes you have to improvise a little bit."

Still, a player like Curry can't be held down. And while the Devils admitted they relaxed a bit once they built their lead to 25, Curry's stamina and ability to create for his teammates was a big reason why the Wildcats came back to within eight points with still almost 4 minutes left.

Duke didn't seal the game until Thomas made a pair of free throws with less than 2 minutes remaining to extend the Devils' lead to 10 and Scheyer, Duke's No. 30, drained a contested 3-pointer for a commanding 75-61 advantage.

Afterward, a tired Curry — he played 38 minutes — credited the Devils for hassling him all night. He had his moments, but it wasn't the star guard's most impressive showing.

"Starting from the opening tip they really pressured the ball whenever I had it out on the perimeter and took us out of our offense, which we're comfortable with," Curry said. "I got some good looks and kind of rushed them a little bit and didn't get my rhythm until the second half.

"My teammates bailed me out early and kept us in it for the most part. They did a great defensive job on us as a whole throughout the whole game."