Duke never trailed against Indiana at Cameron Indoor Stadium Tuesday night, but the No. 11 Blue Devils' perfect record in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge was put in jeopardy in the final minute of a game plagued by offensive inconsistency.
With 34 seconds remaining, Duke (6-1) was holding onto a two-point advantage over the Hoosiers (3-2) when forward David McClure stole the inbounds pass, and Josh McRoberts immediately called a timeout. On the ensuing inbound play, freshman guard Gerald Henderson received the pass and had the chance to extend the Blue Devils' lead to four following a foul.
Henderson missed the first free throw in the double bonus but nailed the second to push Duke's lead to 54-51. After Indiana missed two three-point attempts in the closing seconds, Duke walked off the floor breathing a littler easier-avoiding its second loss in three games.
"It's still early in the season," McClure said. "I think that is the biggest part. The more that we are in games like this, the more comfortable we are going to be. Hopefully, we can keep sneaking out with wins like this, but we're going to have to get better offensively."
Similar to the Blue Devils' loss to Marquette a week ago, the offense struggled to find its rhythm. Duke went through scoreless stretches of four minutes or more in both halves and only managed four field goals in the second period.
The defense, however, helped the Blue Devils maintain a lead for most of the game. With the guards pressuring the ball and big men McRoberts and Brian Zoubek clogging traffic down low, Indiana could not establish an offensive rhythm of its own.
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he was proud of the way his team played on defense, especially in midst of a weak offensive night.
"I hope that we can keep playing defense," he said. "The offense will come around. If it doesn't, the defense will have to continue to save us."
As well as Duke performed on defense, it still could not keep Indiana away from biting at the Blue Devils' heels throughout the second half.
Benefiting from an early scoring surge by Nelson-who accounted for 13 of Duke's first 15 points and finished with a team-high 19-the Blue Devils built up a 15-point lead with 3:23 left in the first half. Indiana, however, took hold of the momentum heading into halftime when Hoosier guard Earl Calloway banked in a floater in the lane as time expired to cut the score to 33-21.
As Duke's offense stymied following the break, Indiana climbed back into the game. Calloway hit another pivotal jumper and tied the score at 40 with 12:12 remaining.
"The last minute of the first half and that last play had a residual effect on the game," Krzyzewski said. "That is what it does with a younger group sometimes. That last minute and [Errek] Suhr's play gave Indiana life, and for some reason, we couldn't seize it in the second half."
Nelson countered Calloway's shot with another scoring burst as he finished a drive with a layup and nailed a three on consecutive offensive possessions to give Duke a five-point cushion.
Although the Hoosiers threatened late, the Blue Devils stayed ahead and captured Duke's eighth straight win in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
"The offense is coming along a little slower than we would like," Nelson said. "We still need to establish the kind of shots that players like to take, and how we're going to get those shots. That is something that we need to work through."
NOTES:
The Blue Devils' 54-point total ties the team's lowest output at home since a win over Clemson Feb. 3, 1982. That loss occurred during Krzyzewski's second season at Duke.... In their next game, the Blue Devils take on Georgetown at Cameron at 7 p.m. Saturday in a rematch of Duke's first loss of the 2005-2006 season.... Duke has now won 45 straight non-conference home games.
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