Buckeye blues

After knocking off three quality opponents amidst the sun and surf of Maui, the Blue Devils received a rude awakening Tuesday night in Columbus at the hands of Ohio State. The Buckeyes' student section made an arena named the Value City Center about as hostile as possible, and No. 3 Duke quickly realized it wasn't in paradise anymore when No. 2 Ohio State ran out to a 11-0 lead and never trailed on the way to a blowout 85-63 victory.

In the wake of the Blue Devils' 68-61 win over then-No. 14 Kansas in the title game of the Maui Invitational, I thought the prospects for this season could be much more promising than many Duke fans were expecting. But Tuesday's loss indicates the Blue Devils are still searching for cohesion. Don't get me wrong—Duke has plenty of time to cement itself as a Final Four contender when March rolls around. Despite the lopsided loss to the Buckeyes, the team still showed flashes of the brilliant play that characterized its three games in Maui. But the game also revealed problems the Blue Devils need to address if they want any chance of cutting down the nets in New Orleans this year.

Here are three lessons learned from the Buckeyes' beating:

1. Mason Plumlee can compete with the nation's best big men

Plumlee showed no fear in his breakout game against Kansas, taking the fight to man-beast Thomas Robinson and emerging from the battle with 17 points and 12 boards. He displayed a physicality sorely lacking at times last season, and after the game head coach Mike Krzyzewski said Plumlee "played like a such a man." He continued that yeoman's effort against Ohio State, going toe-to-toe with 6-foot-9, 280-pound Jared Sullinger—widely regarded as the best player in the country. The Blue Devils fed Mason the ball early and often, and although he struggled to convert his patented hook shot at times, Plumlee held his own against Sullinger. He scored Duke's first basket of the game on a powerful post move and finished with 16 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Although Sullinger poured in 21 points of his own, Plumlee didn't give him anything easy and stayed out of foul trouble as well. The junior finally seems to be showing the skills many expected him to display earlier in his career, giving the Blue Devils legitimate post scoring in addition to their potent outside shooters.

2. Austin Rivers can get to the basket whenever he wants, but he's no Kyrie Irving

I understand it's somewhat unfair to compare Rivers to Irving. Rivers isn't a natural point guard—and Irving had a different role on last year's squad than Rivers does on this year's team—but it's difficult not to draw parallels between the phenom freshmen. Duke needs Rivers to put the ball in the basket first and foremost, whereas Irving was arguably the third scoring option behind Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. Nevertheless, Irving drove the lane as well as Rivers does and used uncanny court vision to kick the ball out to open shooters if the paint was overcrowded.

Rivers put the team on his back against the Buckeyes and kept the Blue Devils in contention in the first half with some jaw-dropping moves to the hoop. But on a night when Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly and Andre Dawkins struggled to get open and hit jump shots, it was disappointing that the freshman didn't do more to get his teammates involved on offense. Irving's ability to score and distribute with ease as soon as he stepped onto the court in Durham certainly spoiled Duke fans last year. Freshmen need time to adjust to the college game, and Rivers will become a more complete player as the season progresses.