Duke faced perhaps the toughest test of its young season Saturday, taking on what head coach Mike Krzyzewski called a “really, really good” Radford team. The Highlanders were a force inside, led by dominant center Art Parakhouski, but they made one critical mistake.
They forgot about ‘Dre.
Freshman Andre Dawkins came off the bench and made his first five shots, all from beyond the arc, to lead the Blue Devils in scoring with 20 points. Dawkins made his presence felt on the defensive end as well, contributing three steals and one block as No. 9 Duke (4-0) cruised to a 104-67 victory over Radford (2-1) Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“Whenever I put it up, I thought it was going in,” Dawkins said. “I had a lot of confidence in my shot. I’ve been working really hard and it’s just nice to see that pay off.”
The Blue Devils spread the ball around all afternoon against a Highlander squad that stayed in a zone defense for the majority of the game. The zone allowed Duke to make safe, easy passes, and the team had 25 assists against only eight turnovers. Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler had seven assists each, and Scheyer was his usual self, taking care of the ball without committing a turnover.
“[Radford] seemed pretty comfortable in the zone regardless [of the situation],” Scheyer said. “We just wanted to keep attacking it.”
The ball movement from the Blue Devils against the zone meant more opportunities from outside, and Duke tied a school record with 18 three-point field goals on the day. Along with Dawkins’ six total treys, Smith and Scheyer poured in four apiece to finish with 20 and 18 points, respectively.
After the first five minutes, the Blue Devils found themselves down three as the teams traded baskets at a rapid pace. As the pace slowed, however, Duke went on a 33-9 run spanning just less than ten minutes to break the game open. The run featured seven 3-pointers, including three from Scheyer.
Krzyzewski stressed after the game that even with the high volume of three-point attempts, his players were consistently making good decisions with the ball.
“We have taken pretty good shots all year,” Krzyzewski said. “I think that is a big emphasis for us. We are not going to force as many turnovers as we have in the past. We don’t want to take a bad shot and have that be a turnover.”
The Blue Devils saw continued progression from their big men as well, as they out-rebounded a strong Radford front line, 45-38. Sophomore Miles Plumlee registered a double-double on the day, totaling 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Despite posting solid statistics, the tandem of Plumlee and Brian Zoubek could not stop Parakhouski.
The Highlanders’ big man dominated the lane with 23 points and 14 rebounds—seven of which came on the offensive glass. Parakhouski drew fouls all afternoon, taking a game-high 12 free throws and putting several Blue Devils in foul trouble. Zoubek fouled out with just over five minutes remaining in the game, while Plumlee and Ryan Kelly were each whistled four times.
Parakhouski did not receive much scoring support, though, as Radford was held to 37 percent from the field. Duke was able to slow the big man at times by denying him the ball in the post, forcing him into contested mid-range shots outside of the lane as he finished 8-for-19 on the day.
Other Highlanders fared far worse, as Joey Lynch-Flohr managed only 8 points on 3-for-13 shooting after scoring 21 points in each of Radford’s first two contests this season. Starting point guard Amir Johnson struggled mightily, going 1-for-10 from the field in his first game of the year.
Duke will look to match this defensive intensity as it heads to New York for the Thanksgiving holiday and the final rounds of the Preseason NIT. The Blue Devils take on former center Eric Boateng and Arizona State Wednesday at 9:30 p.m. in Madison Square Garden, with the winner advancing to the NIT championship game Friday night.
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