Blue Devils-Hurricanes: Duke Blows Miami Away

The Miami Hurricanes are known for their intensity on the football field.

Well, some of it rubbed off on the basketball team.

In a game where 27 fouls were called by the end of the first half, the Blue Devils were able to hold off a late effort by the Hurricanes to win 88-73.

Demarcus Nelson led all Devils with 21 points, and marksman Greg Paulus was second on the team with 16.

For Miami, James Dews had 15 points to lead all Hurricanes, and Jimmy Graham contributed 13 off the bench.

This game was chippy from the start as Greg Paulus caught a shot in the mouth, and Demarcus Nelson inadvertently got cut under his left eye, causing him to come out of the game for several Duke possessions. Paulus, Nelson, Singler, and Scheyer all were in early foul trouble as the game lacked a offensive flow from all the stoppages in play due to fouls. 

Duke had a stranglehold on this game, and never trailed after a three-pointer by John Scheyer with 14:30 left in the first half. 

Coach K's team led 38-31 going into halftime, but Miami led Duke 22-12 in points in the paint, courtesy of teamwork from Raymond Hicks and Anthiny King.

Led by Demarcus Nelson, Duke came out amped for the second half, and outscored the Canes 24-13 in a 6:00+ span to make it 59-44. Nelson only scored two points in the first half, but led the charge with a series of wraparound layups, a steal, and a fastbreak dunk. Nelson rebounded from his early lackluster performance to finish strong.

Duke broke the game open with the run and breathed easy the rest of the way. Miami didn't go down without a fight. Miami got its closet since the first half when it cut the lead to 10 with 7:38 (after a dunk by Raymond Hicks) remaining in the game. But a 12-6 run clinched the win for the Blue Devils.

Duke also outblocked the Hurricanes 7-0, outrebounded them 37-34 and outdimed them 13-11.