The Blue Devils defeated Georgia Southern 72-48 last night at Cameron Indoor to advance to the semifinals of the CBE Classic but it was a little closer than most thought, especially in the first half when Georgia Southern clearly outplayed the more talented Blue Devils. If you remember last year, they had a similar game against Drexel in Madison Square Garden. They narrowly escaped with a victory, all of the analysts started doubting them and they responded with a 70-67 win over a very athletic Memphis team. Josh McRoberts and DeMarcus Nelson (named Regional MVP) each contributed a team high 16 points, Gerald Henderson had 13 points and Jon Sheyer continued his excellent play with 11 points. Brian Zoubek only played 8 minutes and didn't score. Coach K addressed this in the press conference and claimed Zoubek didn't play because Georgia Southern liked to play small. Listen, I'm not crazy about the excessive minutes McRoberts, Nelson, and Sheyer played last night but I will chock up McRoberts and Nelson to Coach K's desire to have his veterans out there to weather the storm and Sheyer to the Paulus injury. With such an inexperienced team, they will have these types of games throughout the season. They will exceed expectations when they are picked to lose and they will stumble when the game appears to be a layup. That's just part of the learning curve. Duke will take a break from the CBE Classic to face UNC Greensboro on Thursday at Cameron Indoor. Last year, Duke beat them by 40 points on New Year's Eve.
1 comment:
I think you summed up the game really well. Like you had said to me earlier when I was upset that Zoubek didn't play more, Georgia Southern's unique style dictated the smaller Duke lineup. Still would have liked to see Zoubek more and less minutes for McRoberts and Nelson, but I understand - I'm just a believer in imposing your will on the other team, not the other way around.
Good win though, go Duke!
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