Basketball falls to Duke 86-60
Greg Burghardt
The basketball team has made its living defying odds and expectations. The team finally ran into an obstacle which it could not overcome Saturday, falling 86-60 to Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
“Duke really came out and asserted themselves,” said Head Coach Jay Smith. “They were good defensively. We hard a hard time getting the ball into position to score.”
The loss puts an end to one of the best seasons in school history. Central (25-7) set a school record for wins and captured an NCAA bid for the first time since 1987.
“We beat an outstanding team,” said Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski. “Central has had one of those storybook season. After going 9-19 last year, Jay and his kids went on to accomplish some great things.”
The Blue Devils (26-6) were the best team the Chippewas faced all season, and the team’s intense defensive on-ball pressure translated into 21 CMU turnovers, including six from junior point guard T.J. Meerman.
“We wore them down,” Krzyzewski said. “Our defense was excellent, especially on the perimeter.”
After scoring 29 points in the team’s opening-round victory over Creighton, senior forward Mike Manciel scored just five points on one-of-9 shooting.
“Mike was getting a little antsy with his shooting. They took us out of rhythm. They forced us into some difficult shots,”Smith said.
Duke averaged 45 percent from the field during the regular season and shot 62 percent against the Chippewas.
The game was close early, as a three-pointer from seniorWhitney Robinson tied the game at nine. A 9-0 Duke run capped by a steal and lay in from freshman J.J. Redick put the team ahead for good.
CMU would close the lead to four mid-way through the first half, but another extended run gave the Blue Devils a 47-33 halftime lead.
Duke started the second half where it had left off at the beginning of the first, pushing its lead to 16 five minutes in.
Senior forward Dahntay Jones had a career-high 28 points, scoring using both his driving ability and his jump shot.
“He played like a senior star,” Krzyzewski said. “He has developed into that.”
Freshman J.J. Redick helped stretch the Central defense on the perimeter, scoring 26 points on five three-pointers.
“J.J.’s threes have a way of inspiring the whole team, me especially,” Krzyzewski said.
Junior guard Chris Duhon finished with 16 points, eight assists and six steals.
Fatigue may have been a factor for CMU as the Blue Devils concentrated on a fast-paced game to wear junior center Chris Kaman out.
“We tried to make him run and wear him down,” Krzyzewski said of the team’s game plan on stopping the seven-footer.
Coming into the game as the nation’s third-leading field goal shooting team, Central shot just 37 percent.
Kaman led the Chippewas with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
“Kaman is an excellent player,” Krzyzewski said. “But we were able to neutralize him a bit. He still played well, but he didn’t play great against us.”
Senior guard J.R. Wallace added 14 points.
No. 3 seeded-Duke advances to next week’s West Regional semifinal, where it will play No. 2 Kansas at Anaheim, Cal. No. 1 Arizona will face No. 5 Notre Dame in the other game.
“If they play defense like they did today, they’ll be very tough to beat down the stretch,” Smith said.
