FINAL - Duke 81, Miami 71
Behind 16 second-half points from Nolan Smith, No. 5 Duke holds on to sweep Miami in 2011, and extend its lead at the top of the conference. Be sure to check the print edition of The Chronicle tomorrow for coverage and analysis.
1:36 2nd Half: Duke 75, Miami 64:
Durand Scott puts Nolan Smith on the line for a one-and-one, and the senior hits both. This game is all but over.
2:20 2nd Half: Duke 73, Miami 64:
I apologize for the intermittent updates, but the BankUnited Center's wi-fi is about as spotty as Malcolm Grant's shooting in the second half. Duke is taking the air out of the ball on offense, and the Hurricanes will soon have to start fouling and looking to score quickly.
7:51 2nd Half: Duke 66, Miami 57:
While it was all Seth Curry in the first half, Nolan Smith has taken charge in the second, scoring 14 points in the period to edge the Blue Devils ahead. Though he missed a fairly routine dunk that would have put an exclamation point on the game, Smith's great cut across the lane a few possessions later was rewarded by an on-target pass from Mason Plumlee that allowed Smith to sky for the finish.
9:50 2nd Half: Duke 64, Miami 54:
First it was Nolan Smith, now Kyle Singler seems to have taken a knock. Defending an inbounds play, Singler collided with his man and appeared to clash knees with the offensive player. Singler slowly rose and hobbled for a bit, but stayed in the game and seems to be running fine now. Duke and Miami traded 3-pointers from Ryan Brown and Nolan Smith, so the lead is still at 10.
11:34 2nd Half: Duke 61, Miami 51:
The Blue Devils may have just broken the game open with a stellar basket in transition. On the defensive end, Miles Plumlee broke up what looked to be a sure Reggie Johnson dunk, and Nolan Smith drove coast-to-coast, finishing acrobatically at the rim to extend the Duke lead to double digits.
12:04 2nd Half: Duke 59, Miami 51:
Each team is making mini-runs, but Duke seems to have an answer whenever Miami hits a shot or two. Garrius Adams and Adrian Thomas buried consecutive 3-pointers to bring the Hurricanes within one, but Nolan Smith reeled off a personal 5-0 run capped by a three with a defender in his face.
17:35 2nd Half: Duke 46, Miami 39:
Seth Curry is proving to be too much for the Hurricanes to handle. The sophomore just drained another three to give him 16 points on the day off of four 3-pointers.
Halftime: Duke 42, Miami 37:
The Blue Devils end the half on a bit of a run made possible by offensive rebounding. With the clock winding down, Singler tried an off-balance shot that was rebounded by Mason Plumlee, who quickly found his older brother waiting under the rim for an easy bucket with around five seconds remaining in the half.
1:09 1st Half: Duke 40, Miami 37:
Nolan Smith has had the worst first half of his season thus far, scoring just two points, but Seth Curry has kept Duke close. Curry did well to draw a foul on a mid-range jumper, but missed both free throws. Luckily for the Blue Devils, Miles Plumlee grabbed the offensive rebound and the ball found its way to a well-set Curry, who drained a three from well beyond the arc.
4:33 1st Half: Duke 31, Miami 27:
Blue Devil fans can collectively exhale, as Nolan Smith has checked back into the ballgame. Offensively, the Blue Devils are having success down low, and Ryan Kelly has finally reemerged as a scoring threat. If he can consistently make open shots, Duke's offense goes from good to great.
6:10 1st Half: Duke 26, Miami 27:
Just four days after Curry kept the Blue Devils afloat against North Carolina, his 10 first-half points through 12 minutes have helped negate the offensive explosion from Malcolm Grant. An awry lob pass from Curry intended for a rolling Mason Plumlee was picked off by Reggie Johnson, and Miami got an easy bucket in transition to take the lead once more.
10:03 1st Half: Duke 18, Miami 20:
It appears that Nolan Smith has retreated to the locker room for treatment, we'll keep you updated on his status. A serious injury to Smith would be a major blow to the Blue Devils.
11:37 1st Half: Duke 18, Miami 18:
Miles Plumlee's slick pass to Kyle Singler, who was in great post position right under the bucket, made for an easy Singler finish and a tie game.
A note on the BankUnited Center: despite it's website's claim as the "best mid-size venue in the world", I'd more comfortably refer to it as "the Comcast Center-lite".
13:08 1st Half: Duke 16, Miami 15:
Nolan Smith was just called for an over-the-back foul on Reggie Johnson, but it seems Smith caught an elbow or a finger to the eye in the process. Just after Smith hobbled off the court, Malcolm Grant drained his second consecutive 3-pointer. Grant has 12 points already, and Krzyzewski has quickly countered with Tyler Thornton.
15:53 1st Half: Duke 7, Miami 10:
Curry strikes on his first shot of the game to draw the Blue Devils closer, but right now Miami is dictating the tempo of the game.
Of note: the public address announcer, after Malcolm Grant opened the scoring for the Hurricanes, decided to take team moral into his own hands, calling out: "Malcolm Grant with a two-point basket. Thank you very much!"
17:09 1st Half: Duke 4, Miami 10:
Rewarding his breakout performance against the Tar Heels, head coach Mike Krzyzewski has placed redshirt sophomore Seth Curry back in the starting lineup, with Nolan Smith assuming the primary ballhandling duties. Curry hasn't been featured in the offense as of yet however, with the Blue Devils looking to establish their post players, something they did against Maryland in College Park but went away from against the Tar Heels earlier in the week. The Hurricanes have hit their jumpers thus far, the latest being a four-point play from Malcolm Grant, who drew contact from Nolan Smith in the air but managed to drill the 3-pointer anyway.
Starting Lineups:
For Duke: Nolan Smith, Seth Curry, Kyle Singler, Ryan Kelly, Mason Plumlee
For Miami: Durand Scott, Julian Gamble, Garrius Adams, Reggie Johnson, Malcolm Grant
From the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla., this is the Chronicle Sports Blog's live coverage of conference leader Duke (22-2, 9-1 in the ACC) versus league minnow Miami (15-9, 4-6). The Blue Devils are coming off one of their biggest wins of the season last Wednesday night against rival North Carolina, but the Hurricanes are riding a three game win streak of their own. Miami has played nearly every team in the ACC closely this season. In fact, the Hurricanes' last nine contests have been decided by seven points or less. We'll be back with the starting lineups as they're announced.
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