JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Duke wasn't the home team in Jacksonville Friday night, but if more Cameron Crazies had ventured to Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena for the first round of the NCAA Tournament, a chorus of "Airball!" would have likely serenaded No. 16 seed Arkansas-Pine Bluff (18-16) for most of the contest.
Indeed, a stifling Blue Devil defense, along with timely contributions from role players, facilitated a 73-44 blowout victory by the No. 1 seed Blue Devils (30-5) in their opening game as a part of March Madness.
“I thought it was a workmanlike performance by our team,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “You know, we’re more talented then they are, but I thought we played as hard and we played very well.”
Kyle Singler led the Blue Devils with 22 points on an efficient 7-of-12 shooting and added 10 rebounds, all in just 29 minutes of action. The rest of the Big Three—guards Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith—combined for 23 points of their own, despite a 3-of-10 shooting performance from Smith.
But despite quality performances from its stars, it was Duke’s unsung heroes down low that spurred an opening Blue Devil run that proved to be decisive.
Duke took advantage of its exorbitant size advantage—the Golden Lions’ tallest starter was 6-foot-8 Lebaron Weathers—by feeding 7-foot-1 Brian Zoubek in the post to open the game. The strategy immediately paid dividends, as Zoubek converted on his new go-to move—a pretty turn-around hook shot—on the Blue Devils’ opening possession, eliciting chants of “Zoubs!” from the largely pro-Duke crowd.
After Singler used his own size advantage to convert a contested mid-range jumper in the lane, Zoubek once again exploited Weathers with a similar jump-hook, his third and fourth of seven points in the contest. One Scheyer trey later, and Duke was up eight just barely three minutes into the contest.
“I just think the guys got a little nervous at the beginning of the game,” Arkansas-Pine Bluff head coach George Ivory said. “Knowing after this game you have nothing else to play for, sometimes… you play not to lose, and I think they played that early in the game, just not to make mistakes.”
The Blue Devils, though, seemed to relax slightly after that opening salvo, allowing the Golden Lions to creep back into the game on Weathers’ outside shooting. Lance Thomas, however, provided an unexpected offensive boost to stem the tide.
The senior’s offensive rebounding ability allowed him to make his way to the line at will, and Thomas also took advantage of Arkansas-Pine bluff’s trapping style by cutting to the rim when Scheyer and Smith were double-teamed. That led to easy layups and dunks, including back-to-back scores with less than 13 minutes to go in the first half that extended Duke’s lead to 14.
Thomas finished the contest with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting, his first double-digit scoring performance since January 23 at Clemson.
“I thought Lance did a good job of just being poised,” Scheyer said of his fellow captain. “He had some really good moves inside, and that’s something we really needed to go to, and I thought Lance did a great job of just being strong in there.”
Still, it was a smothering Blue Devil defense that was the true impetus behind yet another rout by a No. 1 seed in the first round. Duke forced 16 turnovers on the night, including two by Tavaris Washington within the first minute and a half of the game to set the tone.
What’s more, the Blue Devils forced average Golden Lions shooters into ill-advised shots, a plethora of which did not hit the rim, or in fact anything at all. Arkansas-Pine Bluff airballed at least five shots on the night, and another four Golden Lion shots were blocked, including three by freshman Mason Plumlee.
“I thought that was the key in the first half to set a tone,” Scheyer said of the team’s early defensive effort. “We wanted to play great team defense.”
In the end, the game was exactly what most fans would have expected: a dominating performance by the No. 1 seed, despite some uncharacteristic hiccups down the stretch. The Blue Devils committed 14 turnovers of their own, including nine in the second half.
But thanks to timely contributions from the post and a smothering defense, the Blue Devils still performed as planned in what they hope is a long stay in the NCAA Tournament.
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