PHILADELPHIA—Even though Duke led the whole game, the 73-61 win against Albany in NCAA Tournament's Round of 64 wasn't pretty. But the play of Quinn Cook at the point guard position was a thing of beauty.
The sophomore floor general from Upper Marlboro, Md. dished out 11 assists—the first time since Jan. 5 that he recorded double-digits in the category—to help the second-seeded Blue Devils (28-5) do what it failed to do last season: win its first NCAA Tournament game against a 15th-seeded team.
“He’s had a terrific year for us,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “[Seth Curry and Mason Plumlee] know that when Quinn is playing like that we are just a better basketball team. He was in complete control of the game…. He doesn’t panic.”
And in the process, it appears the pinpoint passing and steady play from Cook—which Duke fans saw a lot of when he earned the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament most outstanding player back in November—is back.
“Coach wanted us to get up and down,” Cook said. “We wanted to push the tempo like I had been earlier in the year. The past couple games we have had a slower tempo.”
Coming into the NCAA Tournament hot after winning the American East Conference to earn a berth in the Big Dance, the Great Danes refused to let the heavily favored Blue Devils put the game away. A pesky Albany backcourt led by senior guard Jacob Iati made life difficult at times for Duke. Cook handled the pressure almost infallibly by only committing one turnover.
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Despite only tallying four points on 2-of-8 shooting, Cook delivered when he had to in terms of scoring. At the 18:08 and 8:12 mark in the second half, he hit two crucial jumpers for the Blue Devils to keep their double-digit cushions and prevent the Great Danes from seizing momentum that could have helped the them take the game to wire.
“How well Quinn plays isn’t really determined by how many shots he makes or things like that,” said senior shooting guard Seth Curry, who finished with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting from the field including 4-of-6 from downtown. "It's how he gets his other teammates involved, and I think he got us going, finding Mason, finding me coming off screens and things like that. He was good for us today."
Senior forward Mason Plumlee was perhaps the biggest beneficiary of Cook’s ball movement. Plumlee finished with 23 points on 9-of-11 shooting, including six layups or dunks that were assisted by Cook.
“He was really good,” Plumlee said. “Passing the ball, that was as well as he has played in a while. He gets guys going, and it’s really hard to guard a passer. I thought he played great and really made life easier for everyone else offensively.”
Defensively, Cook made life tough for Mike Black—Albany’s best player. Cook limited the quick 6-foot guard—who averages nearly 15 points per game—to a quiet 10 points, which came on 3-of-11 shooting from the field.
“Black was tough,” Cook said. “I think he got player of the year in that conference… It was fun playing against good competition.”
Last season, a persisting knee injury that Cook suffered in high school prevented him for playing up to his potential as a freshman, limiting his minutes and effectiveness. Cook played just 11 minutes in last year’s tournament loss to Lehigh, and Duke as a team finished with just 12 assists in that game.
This year a healthy and confident Cook—who has sparked much better chemistry for this year's group—nearly hit that mark by himself against Albany.
“But 11 assists, I thought he should have had 12 when he allowed I think Puk to block his shot that one time, and Mason was wide open underneath,” Krzyzewski said. “But other than that play, I thought he played a great game, and we needed it."
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