When Gerald Henderson launched his seventh shot of the game, his third 3-point attempt of the afternoon, it looked like a test-a test to see whether he could actually miss. With that shot and for almost 19 minutes of the first half, Henderson passed with flying colors, registering 17 of his 23 total points without missing a bucket.
Henderson's jaw-dropping performance, combined with stringent defense from the No. 3 Blue Devils as a whole, keyed a 76-67 victory over No. 13 Georgetown Saturday in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was the last non-conference game at home for Duke (16-1) this season, and the win was the 68th in a row at Cameron against opponents outside the ACC.
"He put them on his shoulders and carried them," Georgetown head coach John Thompson III said of Henderson. "He was terrific. He was unbelievable. He just got into the flow and that happens with good players. He got into a rhythm and made everything he threw up."
But Henderson was even able to turn what others threw up into electrifying baskets. After a media timeout midway through the opening period, Jon Scheyer inbounded the ball with a lob over a group of Hoya defenders. The timing was perfect, as Henderson cut to the basket and soared over the Georgetown players, finishing with a thunderous dunk that sent the crowd into pandemonium.
The alley-oop brought Duke to within a single point of the Hoyas (12-4), who started off strongly and seemed to have the Blue Devils on their heels for the first 12 minutes of play. But Henderson's heating up provided all the momentum needed to fuel a 17-2 run for Duke, giving it a 40-29 edge heading into halftime.
"The first half was great-it was special," Henderson said. "My teammates were finding me and I was knocking shots down. We got a good lead at the end."
For the full game story from The Chronicle, please follow this link.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.