Duke was sinking three-pointers from all over the floor Saturday, and they weren't coming from just one guy-J.J. Redick was nowhere to be found.
Even better, the Blue Devil offense was working together.
Duke (9-1) went 9-for-20 from beyond the arc and had just 11 turnovers in its 69-53 win over George Mason (4-4) Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"Eleven turnovers is like heaven for us right now," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I thought our team played very well."
No. 7 Duke ranked last in the ACC in scoring and turnover margin before Saturday's game and had been struggling to hit its offensive stride all season. But the young Blue Devils found their rhythm in the first half against another young team in the Patriots, who are still less than a season removed from their surprising Final Four appearance.
DeMarcus Nelson and Jon Scheyer combined for 42 of Duke's points-21 of them on three-pointers-to lead an aggressive squad that did not relinquish the lead at any point.
"Our emphasis this game was to come out, have a very aggressive mindset, offensively and defensively-mainly offensively though because we felt like that was the area of our game that we needed to develop faster," Nelson said. "So we wanted to come out here with an aggressive mindset but also share the ball with each other."
In the final six minutes of the first half, the Blue Devils' tough defense sparked a 9-1 run and to end the period, 33-22. Josh McRoberts swung a pass into the paint to Dave McClure, who converted it into a reverse layup to start the run with 5:30 remaining.
"Coach always talks about the end of halves, the clock and little game situations like that and how important it is," Scheyer said. "So that's why right there we had a good lineup on the floor and we were like, 'Let's push it right here. We can really do this against this team.' And we ended up pushing the lead at halftime, which gave us a lot of momentum."
Despite its solid performance, Krzyzewski said the team still has things to work on, particularly with finding a way to use McRoberts more effectively in scoring. Responding to George Mason's zone defense, the sophomore was frequently pulled out to the perimeter. McRoberts had just 7 points in 37 minutes, but he did add eight rebounds and eight assists.
"He can be really different when we add the stuff we think we need to add, because he can really pass the ball, and he wants to pass the ball-probably to a fault," Krzyzewski said. "We have to get him the ball when he's in position to score, not just to pass."
Even with the team's highest offensive output in four games, Duke still believes it has room for improvement.
"The one thing we have to do right now is to establish DeMarcus and Josh with a number of shots and a number of touches and have Jon, Marty, stretch defenses," Krzyzewski said. "We can't do all those things right away."
With exams this week, the Blue Devils will take a break in their game schedule and focus on practice. Duke does not play again until its matchup at home against Kent State Dec. 19.
"We'll turn it into a good thing," McRoberts said. "Obviously after any game where you play well you wish you could go out and play tomorrow. But with the coaching staff we have, they're definitely going to make it a positive, and we'll be ready the next time we come out."
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