Duke doesn’t typically have a difficult time dispatching mid-major teams early in the season, yet two minutes into the game Monday evening against Coastal Carolina, the gritty Chanticleers led 6-0 and were ready to test the Blue Devils’ toughness.
But thanks to Kyle Singler, Duke was able to recover and once again pass an early-season test with flying colors.
By using what both coaches deemed “junk,” defense Coastal Carolina (1-1) was able to hang tough early with No. 9 Duke (2-0), but the Blue Devils recovered on the way to a 74-49 victory that was more difficult than the score indicated.
Duke, without junior guard Nolan Smith for the second straight game, struggled early on offense, facing multiple box-and-one and triangle-and-two defensive sets from the Chanticleers.
“We’ve practiced about three times without Nolan and overall we’ve done a good job without him,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “This past week has been difficult.”
Riding support from having their band, cheerleaders and zealous mascot in attendance for the NIT Season Tip-Off, Coastal Carolina was anything but sluggish in grabbing its early lead.
The strange defensive looks led to four Duke turnovers before the Blue Devils could score a single point.
“They turned it over, four turnovers right off the bat,” Chanticleer head coach Cliff Ellis said. “If the ball goes in the hole, I think it could’ve really gotten interesting the last few minutes of the game.”
After the slow start, though, Singler stepped up. Following a Lance Thomas free throw, Singler converted a three-point play that set the tone for the remainder of the game. Whenever the Blue Devils were in trouble, they called on their preseason All-American to bail them out. He did just that on his way to 15 first-half points and a total of 23 for the game, leading all scorers.
Senior point guard Jon Scheyer was not able to score the ball with his usual efficiency, but he did run the offense effectively by not forcing up shots.
“I thought Jon did a very good job being patient,” Singler said. “Jon was our leader out there and we just tried to jump on his back and follow.”
Without Smith, Andre Dawkins saw increased paying time. The freshman wasn’t shy, heaving up 14 shots, including 11 3-pointers on his way to 13 points on 5-of-14 shooting. But despite the low percentage, Krzyzewski was encouraged by what he saw.
“That’s an unusual situation for a player—‘all of a sudden nobody’s playing me,’” Krzyzewski said about Dawkins’s response to the triangle-and-two. “So you’re thinking about that instead of thinking ‘I have an open shot’. So you have to be even more attentive and more disciplined.”
Duke’s size ending up proving too much for Coastal Carolina, which had difficulty scoring after its first major run. Without star 6-foot-7 junior Chad Gray, the Chanticleers were forced to take outside jumpers, very few of which found the bottom of the net.
Chanticleer leading scorer Mario Edwards shot only 3-for-11, and his team wasn’t much better, as Coastal Carolina shot just 28.6 percent.
“They were big,” said Edwards curtly. “Bigger than our guys.”
By shutting down its opponent, Duke gave itself a much smoother second half. Scheyer found his stroke late, scoring eight points in the second half after managing only two in the first.
Singler’s front court companions Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek used their size advantage to shoot a combined 6-of-7 and keep the Chanticleers at bay. Even Olek Czyz got into the act late in the game, slamming home a dunk in traffic. It was a bit of redemption for Czyz, who looked lost at times in the first half and played only 13 minutes after starting his second straight game.
But the story of the game was Singler, who had a man chasing him around the whole game while the rest of the team faced a zone. The extra effort wasn’t lost on Krzyzewski.
“Kyle didn’t get a shot for about seven minutes and then he found a good rhythm,” he said.
Duke will probably face a more conventional opponent, and defense, Tuesday at 6 p.m. when it takes on Charlotte in the next round of the preseason NIT.