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february 3, 2014
AUSTIN PEER/THE CHRONICLE
CARRIER DOME CLASSIC
MEN’S BASKETBALL: GAME OF SECOND CHANCES • WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: BLUE DEVILS FALL
2 | monDAY, februArY 3, 2014
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The Chronicle
MEN’S BASKETBALL
Blue Devils lose battle of second chances
ACC thriller leaves fans clamoring for rematch by Matt Pun THE CHRONICLE
SYRACUSE, N.Y.—Duke’s first-ever ACC matchup with Syracuse was a game of second chances, and in the end, the Orange made the most of those opportunities. Decided by just two points, Saturday’s heavyweight matchup swung back-andforth, with each team attempting to land a knockout blow before the other responded. Ultimately, it was the smallest differences that mattered the most. From the opening tip, undefeated Syracuse put the Blue Devils on the defensive, ultimately holding the lead for 70 percent of the game. Duke matched every punch, answering each Orange run with a run of its own and clawing back into the contest with the help of some unlikely heroes. But No. 2 Syracuse made the most of its last shot at redemption, earning the win despite falling behind by three points in overtime on two separate occasions. “This team just doesn’t seem to be bothered when something doesn’t go in or [the opponent] makes a three at the start of overtime,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. For much of the contest, Duke exemplified resiliency. After missing their first four shots from from beyond the arc and shooting just 33.3 percent from long range against the Syracuse zone in the first half, the Blue Devils entered the break trailing by just three points, thanks in large part to second efforts on the offensive end from forwards Jabari Parker and Amile Jefferson. The duo combined for five offensive rebounds in the half and 11 overall to help Duke to
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Sophomore Amile Jefferson scored 14 points and added seven rebounds and five assists against Syracuse before fouling out of the game. 22 second-chance points. On the other end of the floor, however, Jefferson and Parker both ultimately suffered from Syracuse’s own second efforts on the glass. Both picked up their fourth fouls in the middle of the second half after Duke gave up offensive rebounds, leaving head coach Mike Krzyzewski without his two most effective rim protectors. The Orange took advantage of Duke’s smaller lineup, going on a 12-3 run that appeared to put the game away. But the Blue Devils kept themselves in the contest, and as it drew to a close, another Duke player took charge of the comeback. This time, senior guard Tyler Thornton made the most of his second chance. Giv-
austin peer/The ChroniCle
Graduate student Andre Dawkins scored five points in overtime and played at the power forward spot after Jabari Parker and Amile Jefferson fouled out.
en the start at the sold-out Carrier Dome, Thornton struggled to make an impact in the first half—opening the game with a three that clanked off the top of the backboard and a foul on Syracuse guard Tyler Ennis, Thornton played just four minutes in the first half. Just as the Orange had begun to pull away late in the game, however, in stepped Thornton. With Duke trailing 66-59, the biggest deficit of the night, the guard connected from long-range on three consecutive possessions, pulling the Blue Devils within two. Baskets from Parker and Rasheed Sulaimon tied the game at 75, and after falling behind by one again with just 31 seconds left, Duke had the opportunity to hold for a potential game-winner. “We were scrambling a lot because of our foul trouble, and our kids scrambled well,” Krzyzewski said. “They scrambled well enough to put us in a position to win.” Duke blew its shot, losing the ball beneath their own basket and just 4.6 seconds to go. But the Blue Devils had another chance. Down three and without a timeout to use, Duke got Sulaimon the ball for one last shot, and the sophomore—who had received plenty of attention earlier in the season for his struggles—connected at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime. With his shot, Sulaimon gave the Blue Devils life, but in the end, the Orange made sure not to give Duke any other chances at coming back. Holding another three-point lead with just nine seconds to go in overtime, Boeheim kept the Blue Devils from firing off any 3-pointers by fouling. “At the end of regulation, C.J. tried to get the foul. I didn’t take a time out to tell everybody [to foul],” Boeheim said. “I wasn’t sure—with 4.6 [seconds], coming all the way up, you usually have to take a throw, which they did. It just
happened to go in. But in the overtime, we fouled. It does leave [your opponent] open if you make a mistake, but it worked.” The Orange’s decision to foul paid off, burning a few seconds and helping Syracuse to secure the win as the final seconds ticked away on Duke’s final comeback attempt. “We just needed one more play, whether it was a rebound or a shot going in,” graduate student Andre Dawkins said. “We just needed one play.” The Blue Devils never got that one last play, but they’ll have at least one more shot at Syracuse. When the Orange make the trip to Durham Feb. 22, both teams will be sure to make the most of every opportunity.
austin peer/The ChroniCle
Tyler Thornton played big down the stretch for the Blue Devils, hitting 3-pointers on three straight possessions.
The Chronicle
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monDAY, februArY 3, 2014 | 3
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Duke comes up short against No. 2 Notre Dame by Brian Pollack THE CHRONICLE
For the second time this season, the Blue Devils have to look themselves in the mirror after a decisive defeat to a top opponent at home. No. 3 Duke fell to No. 2 Notre Dame 88-67 Sunday in a rematch of last year’s Elite Eight contest. Duke’s only other defeat this season came at the hands of a top-ranked Connecticut squad, which beat the Blue Devils 83-61 in December. “We have to look at ourselves and look at each other and move forward,” senior guard Tricia Liston said. “Not that we wanted this, but we’re going to learn from this and we’re going to move forward from this and be a lot stronger moving forward.” The loss marks the first time that the Blue Devils have dropped a conference game at home since they were knocked off by North Carolina in March 2008—a streak that spanned 42 games and nearly six years. The matchup featured the nation’s top two shooting offenses, but only the Fighting Irish lived up to their reputation as an offensive juggernaut. Both Duke (21-2, 8-1 in the ACC) and Notre Dame (21-0, 8-0) came into the game shooting right around 51 percent from the field. But the disparity in the contest—61.8 percent shooting for the Fighting Irish compared to just 39.1 percent for the Blue Devils—was huge. “We just really played well offensively,” Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw said. “We shot the ball well—61 percent from the field—that’s pretty amazing against a team as good as Duke and as good defensively as they are.” The Fighting Irish were in an offensive groove from the outset, knocking down 10 of their first 16 shots and building an early five-
niCOLe saVaGe/The ChroniCle
Duke suffered its first ACC home loss in nearly six years when Notre Dame invaded Cameron Indoor Stadium and ran away with a 21-point victory. point advantage that they extended to 10 by the end of the first half. Senior forward Kayla McBride hit her first five attempts from the field en route to 23 points to go along with 11 rebounds and five assists. The Blue Devils missed their first seven attempts from the field and continued to struggle the rest of the way, as they trailed for the entire 40 minutes. “From our standpoint, we didn’t shoot the ball well,” Duke head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “We didn’t really move the ball. Everybody tried to do a little bit too much on their own, and that’s not a good recipe.” Junior Elizabeth Williams had a noticeably quiet day, spending a lot of time on the bench
due to foul trouble and finishing without a field goal. Notre Dame took advantage of her absence, racking up 40 points in the paint and outrebounding Duke by a margin of 4130. Williams’ counterpart, senior forward Natalie Achonwa, had a productive day, finishing with 15 points on just nine shots and nine rebounds. “Given our scenario [with Chloe Wells and Chelsea Gray out], everyone needs to play their role to the fullest,” McCallie said. “That does not include [Elizabeth] getting fouls and sitting. That was very disappointing.” The Irish beat the Blue Devils at their own game in terms of getting out in transition and
playing at a quick tempo. Transition points are always a key focus for McCallie, but it was Notre Dame that took advantage of missed shots and turned them into easy buckets. Despite forcing 22 turnovers—including a school-record tying 10 steals from point guard Alexis Jones—Duke still was unable to push the pace the way it normally likes to, as Notre Dame enjoyed a 15-point advantage in fastbreak points. “When you give up 40 points in transition offense, that’s a bit of a problem,” McCallie said. “That’s a very good lesson for us as a team to try and be more immediate in transition.” The Blue Devils looked as if they were starting to turn things around at the start of the second half, feeding off the crowd inside Cameron Indoor Stadium to go on a 5-0 run and cut the deficit to just five. Notre Dame refused to crumble, remaining poised and continuing to take advantage of sloppy offensive play by Duke. Sophomore guard Michaela Mabrey hit a clutch 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 run after the Blue Devils had cut the lead to seven. With less than 12 minutes left, the Irish held a commanding 62-46 lead and were able to coast the rest of the way. “What I remember most was [Mabrey] hitting a huge shot where we needed a shot,” Liston said. “It was like a dagger, a three when we had just cut it under 10.” Despite the tough loss, Duke will have a chance to redeem themselves soon enough. The Blue Devils travel to South Bend, Ind., to take on Notre Dame again in just three weeks—and they know they have a lot of improvements to make before then. “We have to take what happened in this game and move forward,” Liston said. “We can’t just have film, watch it, see the mistakes and then go back to making the same mistakes that we made [today].”
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
Blue Devils fail to find rhythm against top talent by Amrith Ramkumar THE CHRONICLE
From the opening tip, the Blue Devils looked out of sync. Notre Dame senior forward Natalie Achonwa tipped the ball to freshman point guard Lindsay Allen, who drove in for an uncontested layup to give the Fighting Irish an early 2-0 lead. It was one they would never relinquish. No. 3 Duke was on its heels and playing catch-up the rest of the way, ultimately falling 88-67 to the second-ranked Fighting Irish. The Blue Devils had their opportunities to make it a game late and twice cut Notre Dame’s lead down to five points early in the second half, but the Fighting Irish responded both times to crush Duke’s comeback hopes. The Blue Devils never got closer. “It was getting the stops we needed,” head coach Joanne P. McCallie said. “We never got the stops we needed, ever.” In a matchup advertised as a battle between the nation’s two best shooting teams, Duke struggled out of the gate, connecting on just two of its first 10 attempts. The Fighting Irish made a habit of turning Blue Devil misses into easy fast break points and connected on seven of their first 10 shots. Senior guard Kayla McBride led Notre Dame’s fast break attack—finishing with 23
points, 11 rebounds and five assists—and knocked down her first five shots of the contest between the ACC’s top two teams. “It’s just fun,” McBride said. “We ended up hitting shots at the beginning of the game and it was a great environment. I [was just] trying to take advantage of my opportunity.” Another key for the Fighting Irish was that Achonwa forced Duke’s All-American center Elizabeth Williams to miss two early shots in the paint. Just as she did when the teams clashed in the Elite Eight last season, Achonwa seemed to frustrate Williams with her activity on both ends of the court and baited Duke’s post presence into two early fouls. Williams did not respond well to Achonwa’s aggressiveness. The junior did not block a shot in the contest for the first time in her career and the Fighting Irish capitalized, gashing the Duke defense for 40 points in the paint. “I think Elizabeth can play with anybody when she sets her mind to it,” McCallie said. “I think we’re long enough into the season where we should be smart enough not to be picking up fouls like that. I was very disappointed.” Once the Fighting Irish had taken Williams out of the contest and established
their supremacy in transition, the game became Notre Dame dictating pace and Duke hanging on for dear life. The Blue Devils managed to keep it close because of 16 offensive rebounds and 16 steals—10 of which came from sophomore guard Alexis Jones—but were eventually crushed by Notre Dame’s big runs. The first came with 7:07 remaining in the first half and Duke trailing 26-23. Notre Dame’s Jewell Loyd—the team’s leading scorer—and Allen combined to knock down three consecutive 3-pointers because of Duke’s inability to keep the Fighting Irish out of transition. Loyd then stole an errant Williams pass and passed ahead to Allen to give Notre Dame a commanding 37-23 lead. The narrative of Notre Dame dominating in transition following Duke’s errors also defined the second half. “We played much better team defense,” McBride said. “They were missing shots, we were getting rebounds, and that’s what led to the transition game.” After Duke clawed its way to within five points with 15:27 left in the game, the Fighting Irish put their ball movement on display with a crushing 13-2 run. The Blue Devils again failed to find Notre Dame’s weapons in transition, al-
lowing Loyd and Allen to wreak havoc by getting into the paint. The 13-2 run was replicated with Duke down 67-55 with 7:42 left as Loyd again punished the Blue Devils for their sloppy defense, notching five points and two rebounds as well as two steals during the game-clinching spurt. The Fighting Irish finished with 27 fast break points. More importantly, Notre Dame finished with three more points off turnovers than Duke even though the Blue Devils gathered six more turnovers. “You’ve got to think about your defense more than you think about your offense,” McCallie said. “We’ve got a lot of people thinking offense…. We’ve got to learn to value defense more.” Although Notre Dame’s 61.8-percent shooting effort was a product of great offense and poor defense, it was also the result of the Fighting Irish feasting on an undermanned Duke team’s poor offensive execution. The Blue Devils better be sure to convert more of their chances as their schedule toughens—they have seen the result when they don’t. “You have to give credit to great defense, and you have to say that offensively, we didn’t move the ball as well, find each other, or execute,” McCallie said.
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Senior C.J. Fair scored a game-high 28 points, including 17 in the second half and overtime, as Syracuse upended Duke.
m. basketball
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the ACC) an 88-87 lead with 39.1 seconds to play. With a chance to take the lead, Rodney Hood drove the lane and went up for a monster dunk. Hood sustained contact to his left arm and his dunk attempt clanged off the rim and bounded away. Hood declined to comment after the game on whether or not that play should have been called a foul. “This game is too good to talk about one play,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski added. “We were hoping there’d be contact, and then you hope that you finish it. It was a hell of a play. It’s a big time play.” Syracuse forward C.J. Fair had a field day with Parker and Jefferson on the bench with four fouls apiece, leading the Orange on
a 12-3 run that appeared to have the Blue Devils on the ropes in the closing minutes of regulation. Just when it all seemed lost for Duke (17-5, 6-3), Tyler Thornton re-entered the game and took over. The senior started the game but failed to find a groove early, playing just four minutes in the first half—but Thornton hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions to silence the Carrier Dome crowd and pull Duke to within two points with 4:22 remaining. Parker re-entered the game with four fouls and made an impact quickly, finishing through contact to tie the game at 70-70 with 3:53 to go. Fair answered with a three-point play to give the Orange back the lead. The senior finished with a game-high 28 points, 17 of which came in the second half and overtime. Fair’s partner on the block, sophomore Jerami Grant, added 24 points and 12 rebounds and made a number of big shots to keep his team in the contest. “Fair and Grant were sensational—not good, they were sensational,” Krzyzewski said. “Fair is a top pro pick... and Grant is going to be a pro.” Parker spun along the baseline to lay it in with 1:42 remaining but was called for the offensive foul, forcing him out of the contest. A gutsy performance led the Blue Devils back into the game, as Sulaimon knocked down a three plus the foul with 47.6 seconds to tied the game at 75—but missed the free throw. Jefferson was a key offensive piece for the Blue Devils, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 6-of-10 shooting. Playing against Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone, Jefferson took advantage of his position in the high post and helped to facilitate the offense. The Philadelphia native saw limited action at
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the end of the first half after picking up his second foul early. Jefferson was able to stay out of foul trouble until midway through the second half when he picked up his third and fourth fouls in the span of 56 seconds. Parker took over at the high post, and despite his early struggles the standout freshman nailed a jumper plus the foul on his first touch after Jefferson exited the game. But Parker too would soon fall victim to foul trouble, picking up his third and fourth fouls minutes later and leaving the Blue Devils without a rim protector. “We were scrambling a lot because of our foul trouble, and our kids scrambled well,” Krzyzewski said. “They scrambled well enough to put us in a position to win.”
The Chronicle Duke looks ahead to a quick turnaround and a home matchup with Wake Forest Tuesday night, but the Blue Devils will also have another shot at Syracuse when the Orange travel to Cameron Indoor Stadium in exactly three weeks. Syracuse fans had billed Saturday’s matchup as the beginning of a new ACC rivalry between the Blue Devils and Orange. With many Duke fans circling the teams’ Feb. 22 rematch on their calendar, that game may have more hype to live up to than the first showdown. “I think it’s great for our conference,” Krzyzewski said. “Rivalry doesn’t have to be hatred—a great rivalry is built on respect. And a great rivalry is built on the respect of excellence.”
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Jabari Parker shot just 6-of-16 from the floor in Duke’s loss to Syracuse, but when the freshman fouled out it left the Blue Devils without a rim protector on defense.