WRAL Sports Fan

Duke

Duke survives FSU 84-81, Henderson and Singler big in second half

By Jake Lloyd

Mar 4, 2009

Durham, N.C. — Gerald Henderson saw a clear lane to the basket and was determined to get to it.

Forget the fact that it stood 80 feet away. The junior forward wasn’t going to be denied. Not after such a difficult, hard-fought game against a very strong team.

So he took off, and 80 feet later laid in a tough layup while getting hacked by 7-foot-1 Solomon Alabi.

When the ball fell through the net, the Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd erupted — knowing that seventh-ranked Duke was 34 seconds away from a Senior Night win, 84-81, over No. 24 Florida State.

“I saw it happening before it happened and I was just determined to score,” said Henderson, who led Duke with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Kyle Singler added 20 points and Jon Scheyer had 17, but winning their first home finale since 2005 was anything but a walk in the park for the Devils (25-5, 11-4 ACC)

To get by Florida State (22-8, 9-6) — and set up a chance to win at least a share of the regular-season ACC title Sunday at North Carolina — Duke had to overcome a 40-34 halftime deficit, 50 percent shooting by the Seminoles and 27 points from Toney Douglas.

The Devils weren’t helped when Lance Thomas suffered a left ankle injury less than four minutes into the game and didn’t return. (Coach Mike Krzyzewski said afterward that he didn’t think it was broken, but that it looked serious.) And when David McClure and Brian Zoubek got into foul trouble, it spelled trouble against one of the ACC’s biggest teams.

But in the final minutes, the Devils won with a confidence that they said is higher than it’s been all season — even higher than when Duke was briefly No. 1 in late January.

“I don’t know if it’s apparent, but I think our confidence has really grown throughout the year,” Scheyer said. “Maybe if we had this game a month ago, I don’t know if we would have believed we were going to win the game.

“But I think there is never a time in a game (now) where we don’t think we’re going to win. I think we know the things we need to do to get the lead back.”

Against the Seminoles, the Devils needed to shoot the ball better. In the first half, they made 10 of 32 shots and, according to Krzyzewski, were never in sync.

The poor shooting continued early in the second half, when Duke missed six straight shots — including three consecutive, wide-open 3-pointers by good outside shooters Greg Paulus and Singler.

But a minute later, Singler — who had just four points in the first half on 2-of-6 shooting — nailed an open 3 off a pass form Henderson. And when Henderson faced up his defender in the corner in front of Duke’s bench and swished another 3 on the Devils’ next possession, the game was tied at 48.

“The shots are completely different than what we’ve been taking,” Scheyer said. “I think the way we’re moving the ball and penetrating and kicking and just moving without the ball, I think we’re getting better shots.

“When we take them, we’re shooting them with confidence whether it goes in or not.”

It’s easier for the Devils to pull the string on shots because of how well they’re taking care of the ball. Even against the ball-hawking Douglas and the best defensive team in the ACC, Duke had just seven turnovers — the fourth consecutive game in which it has had single-digit turnovers.

That helped the Devils take five more shots than the much bigger Seminoles — who narrowly won the rebounding battle 39-36 — and offset a mediocre 40 percent shooting night.

“That’s just something in the last two weeks,” Krzyzewski said. “We’ve really taken great care of the ball. It’s really good, especially when you consider that Douglas is probably the best-on-the-ball defender in the country.”

Duke’s ballhandling performance further verified that the coaching staff’s move to make Scheyer the starting point guard and start freshman Elliot Williams is paying off.

Williams had his fourth double-digit scoring outing in five games, with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting. And his back-to-back baskets helped the Devils stay ahead 74-71 with just over three minutes remaining.

But after that, it was Henderson who scored nine of Duke’s final 10 points — with Scheyer chipping in a free throw.

It’s no secret by now that Henderson has become Duke’s go-to guy in tight games, and his explosiveness exemplifies the confidence the Devils are playing with even when they’re behind.

That was tested when Douglas put Florida State ahead 76-74 on a contested 3-pointer with 2:27 remaining. On Duke’s next possession, Williams missed a 3 and Henderson back-rimmed a runner in the lane.

But the ball came back out to midcourt, and Williams found Henderson wide-open in the corner in front of press row. After hesitating for a brief moment, he swished home the shot that gave Duke the lead for good, 77-76.

“I didn’t catch it to shoot it. I caught it to catch and be strong and see what was in front of me,” Henderson said, noting that he thought 6-9 Chris Singleton would be right on him. “Once I saw that he was almost in the lane, I just pulled it.”

Two free throws and that 80-foot race later, Henderson had iced a crucial win for the Devils. And the team had gained more confidence by winning its fifth consecutive game against a very tough opponent.

“I don’t think we’ve had a swagger like this in a while,” Scheyer said.