DUKE 74, GEORGETOWN 67 :15.4: That should just about do it. Georgetown did make a three, but Smith had two clutch free throws and the Hoyas could not convert. Duke wins.
DUKE 70, GEORGETOWN 60 2:23 2nd Half: While the Hoyas are staying basket-for-basket with the Blue Devils, that won't cut it at this point. Georgetown will have to shoot some threes soon, something it hasn't done well all day.
DUKE 68, GEORGETOWN 58 3:51 2nd Half: It feels like this should be a one or two possession game with how loud and energized both the crowd and the Duke bench are. Thanks to some timely scoring from Singler, however, Duke has kept its double digit lead. Summers has prevented the Blue Devils from pulling away too far with some hard drives to the basket, so whichever stops falling first--Duke's jump shots with the clock winding down or Georgetown's aggressive attacks to the rim--will go a long way in deciding the remaining 3:51.
DUKE 63, GEORGETOWN 54 6:40 2nd Half: This game is far from over as the Hoyas refuse to go quietly. Georgetown has taken to attacking the rim aggressively, and so far, it's helped narrow the gap to single digits. Henderson, meanwhile, has reasserted himself with two buckets and Duke seems content to let him take the last shot each possession.
DUKE 57, GEORGETOWN 45 11:53 2nd Half: That may have been the most eventful four minutes of this game so far. A minute in, the referee gave a lecture to Thompson III, probably about his complaining, but did not T him up. Moments later, the referee turned around and called a technical on Monroe, who was sitting on the bench. However, from our vantage point, it did not appear Monroe or Thompson III were even talking at that point,as they blamed the talk on a fan. Either way, Jon Scheyer converted both free throws to make it a six-point game. Paulus has come alive, scoring just five but forcing several turnovers and exorting the crowd to get into the game with the trademark Duke floor slap.
DUKE 46, GEORGETOWN 41 15:52 2nd Half: It's not easy to put away a team with top-10 talent like the Hoyas, and that's shown early in the first half as Jason Clark has scored five points and forced a turnover that led to a nice and-one play by Summers. The three-ball is not falling for Duke, as it's missed its past long-range attempts. A few of those would help the Blue Devils regain some breathing room.
DUKE 40, GEORGETOWN 29 HALFTIME: With the game falling away from his grasp, Georgetown head coach John Thompson III probably felt he had to take a risk, and thus put Monroe back into the game. The move proved costly, though, as Monroe picked up his third foul on a charge about one minute into his return to the court. How Thompson III handles the freshman's minutes could go a long way to how well the Hoyas can stay in this one, as when he's on the court, Monroe has hit all his shots. For Duke, Henderson has missed only one shot--a long three pointer with just over a minute to go. He leads all scorers with 17 points, and with the way he's shooting, it looks as if no one can stop him at this point. Other key stats:
FIELD GOAL SHOOTING: Duke 15-of-27, Georgetown 12-0f-28
THREE POINT SHOOTING: Duke 6-of-13, Georgetown 3-of-10
GEORGETOWN SCORING: Summers 12, Monroe 8, Freeman 7, Vaughn 2
DUKE 38, GEORGETOWN 29 2:51 1st Half: But then again, Coach K is probably satisfied with having Henderson on his team right now. The junior just nailed two three-pointers to give him an absurd 17 points at this junction in the game. Meanwhile, Georgetown's shots are starting to draw less net and more iron as the jumpers that were falling in the opening 15 minutes are not going in. Monroe picked up his second foul at the six-minute mark and will probably not return this half.
GEORGETOWN 27, DUKE 25 7:17 1st Half: Think Coach K wouldn't love to have Greg Monroe on his team right now? The freshman who ultimately chose Georgetown over Duke is dominating the floor right now, having converted all four of his field goals and harassing the Blue Devils on defense. Dejuan Summers is also playing well for the Hoyas, leading all scorers with 12 points. Gerald Henderson, as he has done in the past few games, has carried the load for Duke as the go-to guy, scoring 11 points to lead the team.
GEORGETOWN 18, DUKE 15 11:37 1st Half: Each team is firing on all cylinders so far. Georgetown has scored on four of its past six possessions while Greg Paulus has scored five points to help the Blue Devils keep pace. However, some mental lapses on Duke's part--for example, not realizing the shot clock did not reset on a jump ball, resulting in a shot clock violation--have prevented the Blue Devils from pulling ahead.
GEORGETOWN 9, DUKE 8 15:16 1st Half: One thing is apparent early on: the Hoyas are good. Very good. Duke has had to work for every shot on offense, often not getting the ball up until the shot clock hits single digits, and on defense, Georgetown's speed has enabled it to get penetration and scores of those drives. Despite that, the Blue Devils have hit the shots that they've needed to and played enough defense to stay in the game. Four substitutes--Brian Zoubek, Greg Paulus, Marty Pocius and Elliot Williams--are about to come in the game.
PREGAME: This is by far the most electrifying the crowd has been in Cameron this season--and with good reason. Georgetown is the first ranked team to play in Durham this season and, aside from Stephen Curry's arrival a week and a half ago, is also the first big name school to come this year. The Hoyas definitely look impressive in warmups, so stick around for this one. It's gonna be good.
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