Duke 96, UNC-G 62; FINAL: The Blue Devils throttled up the offense down the stretch to blow out the Spartans by 34. The height difference between the two teams ultimately made it too tough for UNC-G to recover missed shots or counter Duke's points off put back baskets. Singler led all Duke scorers with 20 points, while Scheyer chipped in 18 points. Plumlee led all Duke players with 9 rebounds.
Duke's next game is Monday against Coastal Carolina in the opening round of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament.
Thanks for following our coverage on the blog and on Twitter this evening, and check back soon for more coverage and photographs from tonight's win.
Duke 76, UNC-G 50; 7:51 Second Half: Duke big men Brian Zoubek and Miles Plumlee are having a field day with UNC-G's relatively small lineup. Zoubek has 11 points off of some impressive work inside along with a number of defensive boards and a steal. Plumlee has four points and seven rebounds along with a solid block that inspired a "Miles Plumlee" cheer from the Crazies.
Duke 60, UNC-G 37; 14:57 Second Half: Two back to back three point shots sent UNC-G into a time out early on in the second half. The Spartans zone defense continues to allow the Blue Devils to get open looks outside with option in the paint as well. Singler and Scheyer are doing an impressive job of finding the holes around the perimeter for quick jump shots.
Duke 48, UNC-G 27; Halftime: Duke has been incredibly efficient in running up a 21 point halftime lead, shooting 60% from the floor and scoring 9 points off turnovers. Singler leads all scorers with 14 points (6-9 FG, 2-3 3pt), while Scheyer is right behind him with 11 points. Freshman Andre Dawkins scored his first points in a Duke uniform late in the half, finishing the period with 5 points. He also had an excellent block and steal of a UNC-G player along the baseline in the waning minutes of the period.
Duke has a huge rebounding edge, up 22-10 in that category.
Duke 32, UNC-G 20; 7:02 First Half: As a preseason All-American selection, Kyle Singler is unquestionably this Duke team's star, and he's put on an impressive shooting show in the first half. With UNC-G coming out in a 2-3 zone defense, Singler has bombed away from outside, scoring 5 points in succession off a pair of long jumpers—one inside the arc and one outside.
Duke 25, UNC-G 11; 10:42 First Half: With no player on the roster taller than 6-foot-7, you could imagine that UNC-G would have a tough time passing over or around Duke's tall frontline. That's been the case as Duke has profited from a number of steals and runout baskets to boost their lead to 14. Both Singler and Scheyer have 7, with 3 of Scheyer's total coming off a trio of free throws after being fouled behind the arc on a shot attempt.
Duke 8, UNC-G 4; 15:44 First Half: Duke has come out of the gate strong. Olek Czyz, who is making his first career start tonight in substitution for the injured Mason Plumlee, had the highlight reel play of the first four minutes with a nice steal near midcourt and subsequent one-handed tomahawk dunk that sparked the home crowd. Singler also has looked good, with a steal and a layup as well as a nice three-point flush from the right wing.
PREGAME:We're just about 10 minutes away from tipoff to the Duke's season as they open with a matchup against the UNC-Greensboro Spartans. The Spartans haven't had much success historically against Duke or any other top teams—UNC-G is 0-7 against Duke 0-22 against ranked teams all-time. Still, the Spartans have scheduled aggressively this season, with games on tap against six different ACC teams.
For Duke, starting guard Nolan Smith will sit to serve the first game of his two game suspension for playing in an unsanctioned summer league game.
Duke's Starting 5: Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, Miles Plumlee, Lance Thomas, Olek Czyz
Check back with the Sports Blog and our Twitter account @chroniclesports throughout the game for live coverage of Duke's season opener.
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