COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Over the past few weeks, much banter over the season prospects of the Blue Devils has been centered around the play of senior captains Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. After suffering two losses in which it seemed the offense was too Smith and Singler-centric, Wednesday night’s surgical performance against Maryland proved that as long as the two seniors are in the right position, Duke has a shot to win every game.
It was once the duty of freshman guard Kyrie Irving, but for the foreseeable future, it’s Tyler Thornton’s responsibility to make that happen.
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s decision to start the freshman point guard in perhaps the most hostile environment in the nation may have turned some heads, but Thornton’s effect on the Blue Devil offense was plain to see against the Terrapins. With Smith at his natural shooting guard position, opposing defenses are forced to guard out to both wings, leaving open shots for both post players and perimeter shooters.
“We wanted to start the game where Nolan could go everywhere,” Krzyzewski said. “It produces a different dynamic than just keeping [Smith] up top, and there are more opportunities for everyone to score.”
With Smith in better scoring positions than if he were forced to initiate the offense himself, the Maryland native scored 21 points in just 28 minutes. More importantly, Smith’s ability to stretch the defense negated Maryland head coach Gary Williams’s ability to double-team Singler, who had a dominant performance in the second half.
Just three days removed from a rather ordinary 7-for-17 shooting performance against St. John’s, Singler torched the Terrapins Wednesday. The senior capitalized on defensive mismatches in the first minutes of the scond period, scoring 11 consecutive points.
“Singler in the second half really hurt us when he got loose after we had made a little bit of a run,” Williams said.
One of Singler’s biggest plays of the game, however, didn’t result in points on the board. It was a drawn charge from Singler on a slashing Terrell Stoglin drive that quelled Maryland’s momentum, killing a 6-0 run that had put the Terrapins down only seven.
Invigorated by their captain’s selfless play, Duke’s sharpshooters responded with a 10-3 run of their own. Two 3-pointers from Andre Dawkins and a double-clutch driving layup from Smith broke the game open and gave the Blue Devils a 10-point lead with just under six minutes to play.
“They got loud a couple times, and then we were able to make our runs right back and get them back quiet,” Smith said. “That was just something we had to do on the road.”
Although Thornton’s play was far from flawless—he coughed up four turnovers and often looked helpless against Maryland’s fullcourt trap—the freshman managed to handle one of the ACC’s sternest road tests in just his first career start. Thornton’s emergence also bodes well for both Mason and Miles Plumlee, who collectively had 15 points and 16 rebounds against one of the best forwards in the conference, Terrapin sophomore Jordan Williams.
“We wanted to go into Mason right away,” Krzyzewski said. “The very first play we went right to him and he ended up scoring. I really think it was Mason’s best game at Duke, and he played well for 36 minutes.”
That strong play, though, might not have been possible without a certain freshman point guard.
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