LIVE BLOG: No. 1 Duke vs. Cal Poly Pomona

FINAL: Duke 81, Cal Poly Pomona 60

Though the Blue Devils looked a bit flat at times, Duke looked very explosive against an overmatched Broncos team, and will head into the regular season with plenty of confidence. That's all from Cameron Indoor from the Chronicle staff, be sure to check the print edition of the Chronicle tomorrow for a recap of the game.

Duke 78, Cal Poly Pomona 51 - 3:14 left in the second half:

Kyrie nearly connected with Mason Plumlee for what would have been an alley-oop to remember, but Mason could not flush the ball with his left hand. With just garbage minutes remaining, Duke will likely try and take the air out of the ball with long possessions.

Duke 76, Cal Poly Pomona 47 - 6:11 left in the second half:

With Ryan Kelly the most recent Blue Devil to miss from deep, Duke has now shot 2-for-12 from behind the arc. Not sure what's more surprising: the fact that Duke's shooters have only made two, or the fact they've only taken 12.

Duke 71, Cal Poly Pomona 43 - 9:20 left in the second half:

Two beautiful finishes in the lane balloon the Duke lead to 15. First, Kyrie Irving froze the Bronco defense with a quick stop-and-go from the arc, switched hands in the air and finished a left-handed finger roll. Then, after Irving saved a block on the defensive end from going out of bounds--initiating a Duke 2-on-1 break-- Nolan Smith quickly drove up court and glided across the lane for a smooth scoop-in over the defender.

Duke 51, Cal Poly Pomona 40 - 15:53 left in the second half:

Singler's at it again. A nifty dump-off from Mason Plumlee found Singler in great position in the paint, and the senior finished through contact and converted from the line for a three-point play. Eight quick points in the half now for Singler.

Duke 43, Cal Poly Pomona 33 - 18:59 left in the second half:

Singler has come out of the locker room looking to establish himself as a threat offensively in the second half. A 15-foot jumper from the wing, and an attempted three which he was fouled on has resulted in five quick points for Singler.

Halftime Notes:

Singler's halftime line: 19 minutes, 2 points, 1 rebound.

The Broncos actually outrebounded Duke as a team, 23-17, and got 11 on the offensive glass. Very obviously related to effort in this game, as Cal Poly Pomona has been outhustling the Blue Devils on the boards.

Tyler Thornton, who played a large part in Duke's earlier preseason game this year, has yet to leave the bench.

Duke 39, Cal Poly Pomona 32 - End of the first half:

Both teams missed opportunities to put points on the board in the final 40 seconds, but the Broncos have to be pleased with their performance in the first half. The Blue Devils haven't quite looked up to scratch throughout the first half, and Coach K will certainly be unhappy that the Broncos are out hustling his team early.

Duke 39, Cal Poly Pomona 32 - :40.4 left in the first half:

Tobias Jahn is having the half of his life. 13 points and five boards so far, and the Broncos have cut the lead to 7 after consecutive buckets from Jahn.

Duke 37, Cal Poly Pomona 24 - 3:50 left in the first half:

Kyrie Irving just had a Sportscenter Top-10 worthy assist to Hairston. After splitting a double team at the arc, Kyrie drove and elevated for the finish, then laid a no-look pass to an open Hairston, who easily laid-in for two.

Two surprises thus far:

1. Duke's starters are getting the lion's share of the minutes. Perhaps in an attempt to more closely simulate his regular-season rotation, Coach K has let his top five run the show against the Broncos.

2. Kyle Singler has yet to score. 0-for-4 from the field, 0-for-3 from deep (to be fair, his three shots from behind the arc haven't exactly been easy.)

Duke 30, Cal Poly Pomona 18 - 7:34 left in the first half:

The Broncos have lost the energy they started the game with, and are finding it hard to get anything going against a physical Blue Devil defense. If Jahn can't work the interior, Cal Poly Pomona doesn't really have a second or third option on offense.

Duke 26, Cal Poly Pomona 14 - 9:27 left in the first half:

While Duke has given up a few buckets on the inside, the perimeter defense from the corps of Irving, Smith, Dawkins and Curry has been phenomenal. No outside chances for the Broncos thus far, and if they can't start hitting some outside shots, the scoreline is going to get ugly.

Duke 21, Cal Poly Pomona 14 - 11:24 left in the first half:

Two quick Duke buckets in transition, the first by Kyrie Irving and the second by Mason Plumlee, have given the Blue Devils a bit of breathing room on the scoreboard. Irving's finish with a man on his shoulder was particularly impressive, his ability to run the break might be unmatched among guards in the ACC.

Duke 12, Cal Poly Pomona 12 - 14:15 left in the first half:

After a couple Tobias Jahn extended a Broncos possession and ended in two points, Coach K quickly hopped out of his seat and instructed the Plumlees to quickly check back in the game. He can't be happy with the way Hairston and Kelly handled the last two minutes, where they were routinely beaten to the ball.

Duke 10, Cal Poly Pomona 10 - 15:41 left in the first half:

As is often the case, Duke is having to take a team's best punches at home early, as the Broncos are visibly amped for this game. Hairston, Kelly and Curry are in for the Plumlees and Irving.

Duke 8, Cal Poly Pomona 8 - 16:42 left in the first half:

Tobias Jahn gave the Broncos a surprising early lead with a quick bucket off the tip, but Nolan Smith quickly countered with a three of his own. Duke is going to take advantage of its big size advantage all night, and the Blue Devils have already thrown two alley-oop passes-- neither of which were thrown down, but both led to easy baskets. The Broncos don't look intimidated by the situation however, and have made a number of great hustle plays already

Pregame: Tonight in a less than packed Cameron Indoor Stadium, the defending champion Duke Blue Devils will look to shake off the preseason against the reigning Division II National Champion, Cal Poly Pomona. In a rarely seen matchup of two No. 1 teams (the Broncos were named preseason No. 1 in Division II by the NABC), Duke and Cal Poly will likely explore their options before the regular season begins, and each bench will certianly see its fair share of minutes. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been touting his 10-man rotation in the preseason, and both the 1st and 2nd units should feast on an overmatched Brocons roster, which features just one player over 6'7". Regardless of their shortcomings, however, head coach Greg Karmansky has assembled a Division II powerhouse in California, and his team is full of proven winners. We'll be back with the starting lineups closer to the tipoff.

Projected Starting Lineups:

For Duke:

Kyrie Irving, Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler, Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee

For Cal Poly Pomona:

Sophomore guard Mitchel Anderson, Junior guard Matt Rosser, Senior forward Donnelle Booker, Junior forward Dwayne Fells, Senior forward Tobias Jahn