Before Saturday’s contest against St. John’s, head coach Mike Krzyzewski stopped on his way from the locker room to the bench and waved his arms, yelling at fans on both sides of the court and imploring them to get louder. This rare show of pregame emotion brought the fans in Cameron Indoor Stadium to their feet and charged the atmosphere in the building to a level it hasn’t reached all season.
The No. 6 Blue Devils (7-1) responded, riding the momentum of two lethal runs and inspired play inside to an 80-71 win over the visiting Red Storm (6-1).
“To me this is one of the biggest games we’ve played in a couple of years,” Krzyzewski said. “I thought maybe they’d see in my face, ‘Hey, he’s pretty concerned today.’”
Early on, Krzyzewski had reason to worry. St. John’s boasts one of the most athletic teams Duke is likely to see this season, and as play started the Red Storm quieted the rabid Duke crowd with six straight points to open the game.
Then, with 17:25 left in the first half, seniors Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek subbed in and completely altered the pace of play. Immediately, Zoubek grabbed a defensive rebound and scored on the other end. On Duke’s next possession Thomas knocked down an 18-foot jumper, showing
his improved range. The senior tandem left its mark all afternoon—it combined for 22 points, 15 rebounds, numerous charges drawn and several altered shots.
“They’ve been in a fight before,” Krzyzewski said of Thomas and Zoubek. “This game is like a big conference game. It’s a fight in early December. I thought they did extremely well.”
Following a loss to Wisconsin in which Thomas and Zoubek contributed no points and six rebounds, it was crucial that the Blue Devil big men get back on track.
“We didn’t approach it with the right attitude,” Zoubek said of Wednesday’s loss. “They did. They played a hell of a game and outworked us and that can’t happen. Hopefully we’ll keep building off of that.”
On Saturday the Duke post players took a large step towards doing just that. Thanks to contributions inside, Duke stayed with St. John’s for the first eight minutes of the game.
Then the Blue Devils began to heat up.
Thomas grabbed an offensive board and converted a three-point play, followed by a short jumper the next time downcourt. Then Nolan Smith knocked down two consecutive 3-pointers. Two layups by Zoubek and an alley-oop to Kyle Singler later, a 15-14 deficit had exploded into a 31-14 lead.
Duke rode the momentum of that 17-0 run to a 40-24 halftime lead.
Coming out of the locker room with its back against the wall, the Red Storm kept battling, and never let the deficit exceed 16.
Down 54-40 with 12 minutes left, St. John’s finally got its offense on track, and broke out on a 10-0 run of its own. Leading scorer D.J. Kennedy, who was held scoreless in the first half, notched six points and two assists during this stretch, turning a potential blowout into a four-point game.
“We let up a little bit in the second half,” Zoubek said. “That can’t happen.”
After seeing his team’s lead slip from 16 points to four, Thomas stepped up and hit a 15-foot jump shot. In previous years, that would have been the very last option in a situation where Duke needed a key bucket.
“Lance has been working,” Smith said. “We trust him to shoot those midrange shots and he believes in himself.”
Thomas finished 3-for-3 on jump shots for the day, forcing the defense to extend out and guard him. No basket was more important than the one that stopped the Red Storm’s run.
Up only four, Duke summoned another big run to give itself breathing room.
This time it was Singler who did most of the damage, knocking down a 3-pointer and scoring twice in the lane as a second spurt pushed the Blue Devil advantage to 68-52.
Perhaps the most concerning trend for Duke was its inability to finish off the Red Storm, despite having several opportunities. Up 16 with five minutes left, the Blue Devils once again let St. John’s cut into the lead, this time whittling it to six with less than a minute to go.
“I think we’re a little mentally and physically tired right now,” Krzyzewski said. “St. John’s make[s] you that way…. After they called a timeout or a TV timeout we didn’t execute as well, which shows me that we’re mentally tired.”
Despite the occasional letdown, the Blue Devils were able to finish the job. Free throws carried them down the stretch and they held on for the nine-point win.
“We have a lot of development to do as a basketball team,” Krzyzewski said. “But I like the fact that they step up in tough situations.”
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