Duke 108, UNC-G 56, 1:49 left: The two biggest reactions in the latter part of this blowout: Dawkins's vicious dunk on the Curry-led fast break, and a North Carolina fan leaving the game with a Carolina flag wrapped around his back. That guy departed amid a chorus of boos.
Curry hit a 3-pointer with 2:00 left to give him 15 points. So far, the Curry/Dawkins combo has 26 of Duke's, um, 108.
Duke 87, UNC-G 53, 7:04 left in the second half: Did you forget about 'Dre? It was easy to do. The sophomore played 10 minutes in the first half and didn't even attempt a shot. Luckily for the Blue Devils, he's shooting now and hit a long two-pointer and a wide-open three at the nine-minute mark.
And if you're counting at home, we had Miles Plumlee posterization dunk No. 3 on this previous offensive series. What will former Chronicle sports editor Ben Cohen choose for on his much-reviled Deadspin series? So many choices!
Duke 78, UNC-G 46, 11:36 left in the second half: I have a front-row view to the action (press row sits behind the Duke bench—which means you're privy to language not for little kids, by the way), and I can tell you that Miles Plumlee's eye line went over the rim on that last dunk. It was pretty astounding, even for a 6-foot-11 guy. The junior now has seven.
In the bag doesn't even begin to describe this game. So why don't you read our interview from today with John Feinstein? He talked about Krzyzewski and Dean Smith's relationship, and it's really interesting. Promise.
Duke 65, UNC-G 38, 15:54 left in the second half: Smith is not only doing it with his scoring touch; he's passing the ball well, too. The senior found Miles Plumlee with a great no-look pass at the 17:46 mark that won't make it into the box score because Plumlee was fouled, setting up a 3-point play after Plumlee made the first then missed the second, allowing Singler to grab the offensive rebound and score a put-back.
I just realized I probably haven't mentioned Singler enough yet. He's playing arguably as well as Smith, with 22 points including a 3-pointer that sent Duke into the official timeout. Which captain will win the scoring battle tonight?
HALFTIME: The last two minutes seemed to be a contest of "anything you can do, I can do better." Nolan Smith ran the fast break perfectly, caught the outlet pass and threw down a tremendous one-handed slam that even spurred a brief "Nolan Smith" chant from the Duke fans here. Then, a minute later, as if not to be outdone, Miles Plumlee threw down another big dunk destined to end up on Sportscenter tonight.
A note of concern for Duke: The Blue Devils were outrebounded 20-17 in the first half. Not the numbers you want to be putting up against the winless Spartans. Duke is shooting 51 percent from the field, though, so that may skew some of the rebounding numbers.
Duke 35, UNC-G 15, 7:45 left in the first half: Smith is just having a field day out here. The senior has 16 already and is driving to the basket at will, and every time he either draws a foul or scores seemingly every time. No Kyrie Irving (who didn't make it to Greensboro tonight) means more scoring for Smith, at least tonight.
In other news: Josh Hairston continues to show himself as the successor to Lance Thomas, hitting a flailing shot in the post, then drawing a foul on defense on the next possession. If he draws a charge, then he's hit the Thomas hat trick.
Duke 23, UNC-G 10, 11:14 left in the first half: Things have slowed down a bit from the game's early action, but we're still staring down the barrel of a large Duke win. And UNC-G isn't helping its already slim chances. Spartan Brandon Evans got called for a technical with around 13:00 left, allowing Seth Curry to hit two free throws and giving Duke several good chances for another score.
MVP so far is Smith, who's having his way early with this swiss-cheese Spartan defense. He has 13, including a beautiful up-and-under scoop shot with 14:20 left that broke the 5-0 UNC-G mini-run. And he hit a 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils their current 13-point lead.
Duke 15, UNC-G 2, 15:45 left in the first half: Welcome to the Coach K 880th game-palooza! And, at least initially, is seems that the Duke fans in attendance will be getting their money's worth. After Seth Curry hit a jumper to give Duke the initial lead, the Blue Devils showcased a diverse attack of drives to the basket (mainly from Nolan Smith) and post plays, led by starter Ryan Kelly. It all added up to a dominating 15-2 lead.
Initial impressions of the crowd: Well, what did we expect? It's almost entirely pro-Duke, despite the presence of a vocal UNC-G fan base behind the Spartan basket. Traffic, a nightmare around the arena, may have kept out some fans from attending the game on time (as delayed the start of this blog), so we'll see if anymore people show up.
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