Duke 103, Gardner-Webb 61: 4:08 left in second half: Duke hit the century mark on yet another Zoubek layup even while being fouled. He has 13.
Also in double figures: Andre Dawkins. The freshman hit a 3, then found Singler streaking on a fast break on the next offensive series for an easy layup. He has 12 for the day.
The mascot is on the court for the first time all day. Where the hell has he been all game?
This'll be the last post from the live blog today. Check back with The Chronicle later tonight for more coverage of tonight's win against Gardner-Webb.
Duke 76, Gardner-Webb 45: 11:31 left in second half: Hopefully Duke fans have not turned away from this game. Or less they missed one of the more incredible plays I've seen a Blue Devil make in a while (after all, Gerald's gone).
Jon Scheyer-- who else?-- at the 12-minute mark drove in the paint, was double-teamed, and somehow found Singler with a ridiculous behind the back pass for the layup plus free throw after being fouled. He now has 31 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Brian Zoubek has also played well. The big man has nine points (six of which came on and-one plays), and has played great defense down low.
Duke 61, Gardner-Webb 35: 15:23 left in the second half: Scheyer is hounded every time he touches the ball now, and hit two free throws at the 18-minute mark to put his total for the day at 26.
Hard to believe it, but Singler still has not made a shot today. He's hampered with a bad ankle, but no one could have expected it to hurt him that much.
Smith had one of the plays of the day a minute into the second half. He swiped a Gardner-Webb player, then took all the way down the court for a thunderous dunk in traffic.
Duke 49, Gardner-Webb 31: HALFTIME: As Duke prepares to walk back out on the court, in a game that was probably in the bag before it started, Jon Scheyer has to be feeling good. He now has 24 points on 7-of-8 shooting, to go along with five assists and five rebounds. He's not showing any signs of slowing down either. With two minutes to go in the half, the senior dove for a loose ball, then stayed on the ground for a while, not really because he was hurt, but more of what looked like sheer exhaustion. We'll see if he can keep it up in the second half-- his career high, 30, coming against Wake Forest last year, seems to be in jeopardy.
Duke 41, Gardner-Webb 22: 3:58 left in the first half: I'm finding it hard to write about anybody other than Scheyer. He's been the only interesting part about this admittedly sloppy game-- and he has as many points as the entire Gardner-Webb team.
As it stands now, Scheyer has 22 points, with his two last buckets coming off a great feed from Mason Plumlee, who has also looked good in limited play tonight, and a 3 with his hand in his face. To top it off, he has five assists and four rebounds. Turn to ESPN2 right now, sports fans-- you could see something special.
I've just been informed that I made my television debut a few minutes ago. You may have seen it-- I was the guy in the red sweater picking his nose.
Duke 22, Gardner-Webb 16: 11:53 left in the first half: A text message I just received from my sports editor: "Damn, Scheyer looks good."
He's right. Scheyer is far and away having the best start of any of his games this year, hitting two quick 3's early in the game, one of which came on a fast break when he pulled up for a J.J. Redick-esque 3 while the defense ran by. Scheyer has 11 of Duke's 22.
Duke 15, Gardner-Webb 9: 14:32 left in the first half: Scheyer hit the first bucket of the night, a 3, and Duke rolled from there. With several buckets coming off fast breaks, the Blue Devils are showing their very obvious speed advantage early on.
Another advantage they're showing: size. Gardner-Webb's power forward is 6-foot-3, and MacMillan is the only player on its team over 6-foot-7. Miles Plumlee had an easy bucket early on, and look for Duke's big men to exert themselves even more as the game continues.
One of the loudest ovations of the night--as big as the roar that accompanied Mason Plumlee's eye-level jam--came when Andre Dawkins made his first appearance in the game. Making his first public showing since the tragic death of his sister, Dawkins is showing pretty impressive courage to play tonight.
PREGAME: We're coming at you live from Cameron Indoor Stadium for tonight's contest against the 3-4 Gardner-Webb Fighting Bulldogs. You probably last saw Gardner-Webb in its hard fought loss to North Carolina last month-- its a team with a dynamite shot blocker in the Australian Auryn MacMillan and a team that has a sharpshooting guard in Grayson Flittner.
Starting lineup for the Blue Devils tonight includes Kyle Singler, who's banged up, but still playing. Lance Thomas, Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, and Miles Plumlee round out the starting five.
Duke's a 34 point favorite tonight. Anyone taking the points?
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