In front of a dark blue-clad crowd of 22,178 at the Greensboro Coliseum, head coach Mike Krzyzewski won the 880th game of his career, a 108-62 win over UNC-Greensboro. He passed long-time rival Dean Smith and now trails only his former mentor, Bob Knight, on the all-time career wins list.
“I don't want to take any of that too seriously, but rather say, ‘I'm one of the guys who's won a lot of games,’” Krzyzewski said. “To share a spotlight with Dean and (Knight), that's a great honor.”
A statement from Smith was released after the game, congratulating Krzyzewski on the the record.
“I congratulate Mike on this milestone victory,” it read. “I enjoyed competing against Mike’s teams throughout the many years I was at UNC. I wish him continued health and personal success.”
The location of the blowout win was significant for Krzyzewski. Five ACC championships have been won by No. 1 Duke in Greensboro, including a seminal victory early in Krzyzewski’s career over North Carolina. The coach even said afterwards that, “Outside of Cameron [Indoor Stadium], this is the place you want to [reach the milestone].”
And while the game was billed as an away matchup for Duke (12-0), it felt at times more like an oversized Cameron. Thousands of Blue Devil fans were in attendance and most stayed until the very end. Those who stuck around were greeted by a visibly emotional Krzyzewski, who waved to them after the game and thanked them again in the press conference.
“The crowd amazed me,” he said. “I took a moment to reflect back to when I first got to North Carolina, and there weren’t many Duke shirts anywhere.”
Like Dec. 20’s contest against Elon, in which Krzyzewski tied Smith, the game itself was a sideshow to the main act.
Still, Duke team provided plenty of entertainment, shooting its way to a 15-2 lead to start the contest and going into halftime with a season-high 53 points, good for a 21-point lead. The Blue Devils didn’t let up in the second half either, shooting an astronomical 72.4 percent en route to the 46-point win.
The senior captains, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith, led the way. The duo outscored the entire Spartan team in the first half, 37-32, and Singler finished the game with 27, while Smith had a season-high 26.
They, and the rest of the team, were spurred on by the hoopla of the event—as well as a pregame pep talk from the team’s assistant coaches.
“Heading into the game, he of course never mentions anything about it—it’s always about us and what we’re doing as a team,” Smith said. “But the assistants mentioned something about it last night and we wanted to have a great game for him.”
Smith and Singler led a team with six players in double figures, including Andre Dawkins and Miles Plumlee, who also reached great heights in the contest—literally.
Plumlee, who finished with 11 points and five rebounds, threw down two crowd-pleasing dunks that UNC-G (0-12) head coach Mike Dement correctly said would no doubt make the sports highlights that night.
Dawkins joined Plumlee on the highlight reel. The sophomore recovered from a non-descript first half, in which he didn’t even attempt one shot, to score 11 on 4-of-5 shooting in the second period. His big moment came with 3:30 left in the game, slamming home a thunderous dunk on a fast break off an outlet pass from Seth Curry.
Dement, a former assistant to Krzyzewski, looked defeated when describing the morale-bursting big plays from Plumlee and Dawkins, as well as the relentless assault of Duke as a whole.
"I wished we could have given them a little bit better fight, a little bit better game,'' Dement said.
The march of history was too much for UNC-G, though, and now the Blue Devils turn their eyes towards the ACC season, beginning with Miami Jan. 2.
The No. 1 spot on the all-time coaching wins list is also within view. If Duke wins out, Krzyzewski will have a chance to tie Knight in the final game of the ACC Tournament.
The location of that game?
The Greensboro Coliseum, of course.
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