Duke falls to Miami 96-95 to lose second straight game

Posted On: February 20, 2008 By: Cliff Comments: (more)

The Duke Blue Devils have hit a brick wall the last two ball games against Wake Forest and Miami.  Playing both games on the road, the Blue Devils have been unable to come away with wins as they are now tied with North Carolina for first place in the ACC.

Duke fell behind early as Miami was playing lights out basketball in the first half.  The highest scorers in the first half of the Blue Devils only had six points which is unheard of for a Duke player.  Heading into halftime the Blue Devils were already down 41-36 and it quickly grew to a 20 point lead in the second half as the Hurricanes went on a 15-0 run that Duke had no answer for.

I will give the Blue Devils credit for battling back after being down 20 points in the second half.  Sophomore Jon Scheyer had a career high 27 points, and DeMarcus Nelson really stepped up his play in the second half as he finished with 19 points.

I really believe that Coack K needs to sit Gerald Henderson down for atleast one or two games so he can let his wrist heal up.  Henderson isn’t doing much on the offensive end of the ball like we are used to seeing.  Usually he is at the free throw line four or five times a game, but he just isn’t taking the ball to the basket as much with the hurt wrist.

Duke can overcome this little slump on Saturday when St. Johns makes a visit to Cameron Indoor Stadium.  The game can be seen on CBS and will tip-off at 4:00 eastern.

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3 Responses to “Duke falls to Miami 96-95 to lose second straight game”

1. t. hall Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 2:38 am

   I agree, Duke has hit a brick wall, but that wall has taken the place of the normal defensive wall they put up for opponents. They are playing absolutely no D!. They have given up 86 and 96 points the past two games. By any measure, that’s terrible. They can’t stop the dribble penetration which would propel most teams into a zone; however, we all know that Coach K will not employ a zone except for an occasional self-amusement.

   Don’t get me wrong, I love Duke basketball, but I am not too blind by loyalty to see problems when they are obvious, and I am not too egotistical to admit that our guys have a hard time defending better athletes. I wish Coach K were as objective!

2. Cliff Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 4:00 am

   Yeah, I have also thought about the zone defense as well. There has been a few times it looks like they are trying to run some sort of zone but then it goes back to man on man quickly.

   I think they will get back on the winning track this Saturday. Defense will setup and the Blue Devils will get a 10+ point victory.

3. Johnny Jungle Says:
   February 21st, 2008 at 2:59 pm

   Hey St. John’s fan here I just wanted to come into enemy territory to tell you that you are going to win don’t sweat an upset here but if you would like to grasp a little perspective from the opposition a great preview on the game can be seen here. http://www.johnnyjungle.com

   This is the St. John’s fan site which also features and article on 5 reason I could never root for Duke which I’m sure you’ll all enjoy. Check it out kill some time at the office and good luck tomorrow not that you’ll need it. I’ll check back later today and maybe you all have some thoughts on the current state of St. John’s basketball that you would like to share.

   Thanks

   Dave

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