COLUMBUS, OHIO — Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s teams have always been known for their defensive prowess. But Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio State had its way with an inexperienced Duke squad that struggled to contain the Buckeyes’ balanced attack.
From the outset, the Blue Devils were faced with a variety of scoring options they would be tasked with defending for the duration of the contest. Ohio State opened up an 11-point lead, going 5-for-6 from the floor.
The Buckeye starters proved too much for Duke as Jared Sullinger, Aaron Craft, Deshaun Thomas and William Buford combined for 76 of the team’s 85 points.
“We all got beat in our individual matchups, so it wasn’t just one person,” forward Mason Plumlee said.
Ohio State was able to do so by moving the ball efficiently through the post and around the perimeter. Craft, the efficient point guard, racked up eight of his team’s 18 assists.
Although Sullinger was only credited with one assist, there were countless times when Blue Devils collapsed into the paint, leaving guards unguarded on the perimeter. Sullinger showed great vision and delivered passes to his teammates who worked the ball around the perimeter and made open shots.
In the first half, the Buckeyes boasted ten assists to just four turnovers while Duke had recorded only three assists and had turned the ball over eight times.
Patience and good decision-making allowed Ohio State to exploit the Blue Devils’ defense and shoot over 59 percent from the field, including 57 percent from beyond the arc for the game. Before last night’s loss, Duke had allowed opponents to shoot just 42 percent from the floor and 30 percent from 3-point range.
“We just played bad defense,” freshman guard Austin Rivers said. “If you know anything about Duke, the best thing we do is play defense. Tonight, we [all played as individuals] instead of team defense.”
Rivers did all he could to keep his team in the game, scoring a team-high 22 points and using his penetration to create open shots for his teammates. The Blue Devils had shot the ball very well early in the season, making over 45 percent of their 3-point attempts.
Against Ohio State, however, guards Seth Curry, Quinn Cook and Tyler Thornton shot a combined 1-for-11 from 3-point range while fellow shooters Andre Dawkins and Ryan Kelly did not pull the trigger on a single attempt from deep. Although the Buckeye defenders played well, there were several open shots that the guards missed badly.
Mason Plumlee was one of the few bright spots of Duke’s offense. The middle Plumlee scored 16 points and added eight rebounds while going up against one of the best big men in the country.
“I thought [Sullinger] and Mason played hard,” Krzyzewski said. “Mason played Sullinger well, and he wanted the ball.”
Although Plumlee matched Sullinger with eight boards apiece, no other Blue Devil hauled in more than three rebounds. Each of Ohio State’s starters grabbed at least five rebounds, leading to the Buckeyes winning the battle on the boards by six.
The Blue Devils have their work cut out for them as they must improve their team defense and rebounding if they are going to be a force in the national title picture.
“We’re a very young team,” Krzyzewski said,” We’re still trying to figure out who we are as a basketball team…. Our team is going to get a lot better by playing against this level of competition.”
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