If I had to sum up Duke’s play so far this season I would say steady. The benefits of senior leadership should never be under appreciated. Duke has 3 seniors and they carried Duke once again with heady plays and smart basketball. I worried about this game against MN, they seemed to be a team on a bit of a roll and a team that could possibly give Duke some fits athletically. I was wrong. Duke was able handle the Gophers despite early turnovers by the score of 89-71.
Duke gave Minnesota all it could handle in the form of Mason Plumlee. Plumlee wasn’t the leading scorer for Duke, that title went to Seth Curry with 25, but he did control the paint, grabbing 17 rebounds and putting up 20 points for the Devils. Mason could not be stopped on the low block, nor could be be stopped on the free throw line going 8 of 10 there. Seth Curry is as smooth and crafty as he wants to be. Hitting 3 for 3 from beyond the arc and just making play after play for Duke when they needed it, Seth was the man today. The only draw back to Curry playing so well and for 33 minutes in this game is that he may not be available for the next game. Pain will be the determining factor on whether Curry can play or not. If not Duke will be at a distinct disadvantage. Considering all but 2 points by Amile Jefferson were scored by the starters Duke will have to develop some depth going forward. Most fans are hoping to get more out of Amile Jefferson and redshirt freshman Alex Murphy who play about a minute in the game (the last minute).
Where Duke is finding surprising offense is from sophomore and starting point guard Quinn Cook. Cook scored 17 points and shot 3 of 4 from 3point range and dished 4 assists. Where Cook will have to improve in the next game is turnover, Cook had 4 to go with this 4 assists, although one was a pass to Josh Hairston that he mishandled.
Duke was never under too much game pressure but obviously as the tournament goes on that should change, with a matchup against either VCU or Memphis.
Duke will need more from Tyler Thornton, Josh Hairston, Amile Jefferson and Alex Murphy going forward.
Official Basketball Box Score
Minnesota vs Duke
11/22/12 3:30 p.m. at Atlantis, Paradise Island, Bahamas
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VISITORS: Minnesota 4-1
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
33 Williams, Rodney.... f 6-11 1-3 3-6 3 4 7 3 16 1 2 2 1 33
55 Eliason, Elliott.... c 0-2 0-0 1-2 2 2 4 2 1 0 0 1 0 14
01 Hollins, Andre...... g 4-13 2-7 2-2 0 3 3 3 12 4 1 1 0 24
11 Coleman, Joe........ g 3-7 0-0 1-2 2 0 2 2 7 3 4 0 2 26
20 Hollins, Austin..... g 3-10 1-4 0-0 4 2 6 3 7 2 4 0 1 32
00 Welch, Julian....... 0-2 0-1 0-0 0 2 2 2 0 4 1 0 1 13
10 Osenieks, Oto....... 0-2 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 7
13 Ahanmisi, Maverick.. 2-2 0-0 6-6 0 0 0 0 10 1 1 0 2 15
15 Walker, Maurice..... 2-4 0-0 1-1 2 3 5 2 5 0 0 0 0 9
30 Ingram, Andre....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 2 0 0 0 0 9
32 Mbakwe, Trevor...... 3-6 0-0 5-6 2 1 3 0 11 0 1 2 0 18
TEAM................ 1 1
Totals.............. 24-60 4-16 19-25 16 19 35 19 71 15 15 6 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 12-32 37.5% Game: 40.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 2-9 22.2% Game: 25.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 12-15 80.0% Game: 76.0% 4
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HOME TEAM: Duke 4-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Mason Plumlee....... f 6-11 0-0 8-10 5 12 17 4 20 3 1 1 1 36
34 Ryan Kelly.......... f 5-10 1-2 3-4 3 3 6 4 14 0 3 3 0 28
02 Quinn Cook.......... g 6-13 3-4 2-2 0 3 3 2 17 4 4 0 5 31
14 Rasheed Sulaimon.... g 4-7 1-1 2-3 0 2 2 3 11 1 2 0 1 28
30 Seth Curry.......... g 8-11 3-3 6-7 1 0 1 1 25 3 1 0 1 33
03 Tyler Thornton...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 4 0 1 3 0 3 22
12 Alex Murphy......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
15 Josh Hairston....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 12
21 Amile Jefferson..... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 9
TEAM................ 1 1 1
Totals.............. 30-55 8-10 21-26 10 22 32 21 89 12 15 4 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-30 50.0% 2nd Half: 15-25 60.0% Game: 54.5% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-7 71.4% 2nd Half: 3-3 100 % Game: 80.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 16-20 80.0% Game: 80.8% 1
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