No. 1 Duke 98, Oregon 71, Final
Oregon goes on a strong run (including two three-pointers from E.J. Singler) to tighten the lead, but Duke has pulled too far ahead for the baskets to make any difference. Don't forget to check out Monday's print edition of The Chronicle for a recap of the game!
No. 1 Duke 98, Oregon 62, 1:59 Second Half
Nared makes one just inside the arc, and the ball goes back to Duke; Curry makes a three. The second half is definitely proving better for him, and the team’s three-point field goal percentage. A swift and nifty side pass from Curry to Dawkins results in yet another three-pointer.
No. 1 Duke 91, Oregon 60, 3:29 Second Half
Smith goes to the bench, and no love is lost among Duke fans, who stand and clap as he walks in. Dawkins makes another three, and a missed shot from Tyrone Nared results in a Mason Plumlee rebound. Media timeout.
Interesting ad: There are many quotes on the main screen in the middle of the arena about Oregon’s mascot being the best one in college sports, a claim that is highly believable. He is now walking through the crowd and dancing—it takes a pretty enthusiastic mascot to get its fans—a good portion adults—cheering , clapping and yelling. Kudos to the team’s cheerleaders and marching band (three members made their own little pyramid earlier).
No. 1 Duke 88, Oregon 58, 4:04 Second Half
Sorry for the ridiculous delay—the internet here (or maybe it’s our WordPress server) is incredibly shaky.
E.J. Singler makes one of two, but the Ducks manage to snag the rebound. Their scoring opportunity is cut short with 19 seconds left on the shot clock, however, as a low pass bounces out of bounds. The Blue Devils take possession, and a foul is called on Catron after Dawkins goes leaping near the sidelines. He proceeds to make one of two. The ball goes back-and-forth a few times, and Duke comes away with a two from Smith, and Oregon has a two, a three and three made free throws under its belt. E.J. draws his fourth foul, and his brother is back on the line (to very audible groans from the Oregon crowd). He makes two of two, and as Kyle Singler goes back to the bench, most Duke fans are standing and most Oregon fans clapping. E.J. gets fouled and misses his two, and Kelly makes a three!
Interesting (unrelated?) fact: After watching the Oregon cheerleaders, a combination of male and female cheerleaders as well as dancers, I remembered what someone had mentioned in passing the other day—that Duke cheerleaders are not allowed to do stunts because of an incident that happened some years back. Just for those of you curious as to why we don’t send our squads flying in the air or making pyramids.
No. 1 Duke 80, Oregon 51, 7:45 Second Half
Two made free throws from Oregon, a jumper from Smith and a two-pointer from Jonathan Lloyd followed by another easy layup from Lloyd signal rapid point accumulation in a short one-minute span. A made free throw from Duke and finally a made three from E.J. Singler—then followed quickly by a two from Kyle Singler—indicates another power minute to come. A foul on Irving and another media timeout.
No. 1 Duke 73, Oregon 42, 9:40 Second Half
Dawkins is back in the game with a three. An attempt from Williams to match up results in the ball bouncing off the side of the backboard and into the crowd. Kyle Singler adds to Dawkins’ shot and makes his own three. Smith gets creative with a bounce dribble between his legs backward to Miles Plumlee, who misses off the backboard. The most interesting part of the half so far seems to be Smith’s performance—great one second, horrid the next. The senior also seems to hover between bouts of energy—doing a 360 after being fouled—and lethargy—pausing for two, maybe three seconds after having the ball stolen from him near the basket (though that was mostly present in the first half).
No. 1 Duke 66, Oregon 40, 12:05 Second Half
Two missed free throws from Mason Plumlee and a jumper from Smith. Josh Hairston comes into the game for the first time this afternoon and shoots but overshoots the basket. After a period with points made from just fouls, E.J. Singler surges into the paint and scores two, drawing a foul, as well. He misses.
Of note: Kyle Singler currently leads Duke with 23 points. Irving comes next with 16 and Smith in third with 13. The Ducks' highest scorers are Jacob and Catron, both of whom have 12.
Interesting observation: The mascot is now doing push-ups in his duck suit--and clapping in between sets.
No. 1 Duke 61, Oregon 33, 14:36 Second Half
Kyle Singler breaks the no-scoring lull with a three, and a turnover from the Ducks results in Smith adding another two points to Duke's total. Jacob makes a shot that catches the Blue Devil defenders off guard, but he proceeds to foul on Duke's side.
No. 1 Duke 55, Oregon 31, 16:27 Second Half
The Blue Devils are getting off to a strong start, adding seven points in the first three minutes and holding Oregon to adding five. A second foul on Smith and the Ducks add another point to their total. Kyle Singler contributes a three, and E.J. looks to match his brother and shoots from outside the arc but misses. And Smith is back in the game with a three but commits another foul, his third. Duke is gaining momentum and pulling away strong.
Halftime Analysis -
Duke has a pretty significant lead over Oregon going into the second half, but there is a lot happening on the court that aren't translated that concretely into numbers, like the sloppy dribbling on both sides, the rush to shoot (particularly for the Ducks), and the number of turnovers--9 for the Blue Devils and 8 for the Ducks. It's no wonder why Duke is leading the home team--the Blue Devils boast a 42.4 field goal shooting percentage (though still not entirely impressive) and have made only 3 of 12 three-pointers. Oregon, on the other hand, has been plagued with poor shooting, making only 27.8 percent of field goals and 1 of 5 three-pointers. Of note is that Seth Curry is 0 for 6 shot attempts, and Smith is 1 of 8. On Oregon's end, Catron is 3 of 8 and E.J. Singler is 0 of 4.
No. 1 Duke 40, Oregon 23, Halftime
Successful runs from inside the paint add to the Ducks’ scoring total, contrasting to a stalled Duke score. The Blue Devils seem out to prove me wrong, coming away with one more shot. Smith goes for the shot from inside the paint, but the ball is pushed down, and he ends up on the ground with the ball back in Oregon possession. Several missed shots later, including an air ball from E.J. Singler, and Irving is on the line—one more point for the Blue Devils as the half winds down. A made shot from Oregon, and Duke shoots with 3 seconds to go.
No. 1 Duke 33, Oregon 19, 3:51 First Half
Of note: The past two minutes have had at least three loose balls. Both teams are beginning to be sloppy with dribbling down the court.
No. 1 Duke 31, Oregon 17, 5:43 First Half
A mad scramble for the ball on the Ducks’ side of the court leaves one Oregon player relatively open, but the Plumlee brothers descend on him, and Mason swats the ball from out of his hands. Several plays later, a foul on Singler results in free throws from Strowbridge. A long pass to Miles Plumlee from just about half court, followed by a backwards dunk. Williams comes back with a three. Smith seems to be riled up, missing and getting shots swatted away.
No. 1 Duke 27, Oregon 10, 7:54 First Half
Jacob finally comes away with a shot from just outside the paint to give another two points to the Ducks, who have not scored in just over three minutes. Singler is again quick to retaliate, making his second consecutive three. A foul on Kelly, and the Ducks make two free throws. E.J. Singler draws another foul—his second and the team’s eighth—and a media timeout is called.
Interesting observation: Oregon’s mascot (a duck) plays the drums. Very well.
No. 1 Duke 22, Oregon 7, 9:12 First Half
The Ducks are slow on the rebounding, allowing Duke many opportunities to score. Teondre Williams goes in for a dunk, but the ball is pushed away by Mason Plumlee, and the Blue Devils get the rebound off the backboard. Duke is seeing solid rebounding both offensive and defensive from Mason Plumlee and Kelly. And despite many opportunities to score for the Ducks, they are unable to capitalize and have even shot an air ball. Duke, on the other hand, is quick and has made what seems to be the majority of its shots from near the perimeter. Smith is fouled and makes his two free throws.
No. 1 Duke 15, Oregon 7, 12:10 First Half
After multiple missed shots from the Ducks, the home team is still down by seven. Dawkins makes a three right after he is kicked lightly near the right knee by Malcolm Armstead. A foul is called, and he proceeds to make his free throw. Oregon is having trouble coping with the Duke defense and getting the ball inside the perimeter and is resorting to long passes into Blue Devil territory. But the Ducks manage to break the defense and score, though they are still having trouble shooting—even from inside the paint. A foul is called on Nolan Smith, bringing the Duke team foul count to three. Jacob is on the line and proceeds to make one of two free throws.
No. 1 Duke 11, Oregon 4, 15:39 First Half
Kyrie Irving makes a shot, followed by a loose ball on the Ducks’ side of the court, resulting in an easy, open layup from Plumlee. The Blue Devils are off to a strong start, and Oregon is looking sloppy on the court. Andre Dawkins and Miles Plumlee come in for and Mason and Kelly. Jay-R Strowbridge comes in for Garrett Sim and proceeds to make a two from just inside the arc. A foul is called on E.J. Singler, and the game stops for a media timeout.
No. 1 Duke 7, Oregon 2, 17:34 First Half
Mason Plumlee goes in for the first dunk of the game with two Duck defenders at least three feet behind him. Ryan Kelly has been impressive with rebounding today and getting very physical on the court and keeping his grip on the ball. Oregon is on the board with a jump shot from Jeremy Jacob.
No. 1 Duke 5, Oregon 0, 19:14 First Half
The Blue Devils win the tip-off and Kyle Singler makes the first shot of the game off of a pass from Nolan Smith. E.J. runs the ball down the other side of the court and shoots but misses. A foul is called on Joevan Catron, and Kyle Singler as on the line.
Starting Line-up:
Duke: #1 Kyrie Irving, #2 Nolan Smith, #5 Mason Plumlee, #12 Kyle Singler, #34 Ryan Kelly
Oregon: #3 Garrett Sim, #11 Malcolm Armstead, #23 Jeremy Jacob, #25 E.J. Singler, #34 Joevan Catron
Preview -
With just about 30 minutes to go before No. 1 Duke faces Oregon at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, it's time for a preview of this afternoon's matchup! Of note (other than the fact that the two teams are playing in the Portland Trailblazers' home court) is that this is the first time both schools are meeting and the first time Kyle Singler and his brother E.J. Singler (#25, Forward) are on opposite teams. At South Medford High School, the two together led the team to back-to-back appearances at the state championships, clinching the title in 2007. Both are Medford natives, and while the older brother decided to explore new territory--and earn the MVP title en route to his first NCAA Championship, the younger wanted to stay closer to home and went on to become the 2009 Oregon State Player of the Year. But there's more to watch than just the two players duking it out.
The Blue Devils (5-0) are playing a relatively upperclassmen Ducks team that is still adjusting under its new head coach Dana Altman. Oregon (4-1) is led by senior Joevan Catron, who was awarded a medical hardship in the offseason after missing all but four games last season.
Interesting observation: No shouts of "O" during the singing of the National Anthem. & The arena is just about filled (minus the top most seats in each section), and the crowd is split 65-35 for the home team.
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