Duke Outslugs Georgetown, 76-67
In a tense, at times confrontational game, Duke and Georgetown went at it hard for 40 minutes in Cameron Saturday before Duke claimed a 76-67 win.
Before the game, Big John Thompson was quoted as saying the Hoyas could use a few “thugs” to presumably give Georgetown some more toughness inside. After Saturday’s game, he might not have to repeat the request.
We didn’t’ see everything that went on, but we did see that Greg Paulus and Kyle Singler were angered by whatever it was. Early on it was Paulus, who went ballistic on Jesse Sapp. Since this isn’t something you see from him on a regular basis, it’s obviously in response to something that happened on the court.
Paulus was angry. At one point, he bumped into a Georgetown player. At another, he went jaw-to-jaw with Sapp (we’re pretty sure it was Sapp but we have to check the video) before the officials stepped in. On defense, he was a dervish.
Singler took a particular beating in this game. In the second half, after getting hacked and mugged, he pushed back.
Again, it’s not something you see from him on a regular basis. We can’t ever remember seeing it. He’s a tough kid, though, and apparently reached his limit.
The game grew increasingly physical and took on a Big East style. The Big East has some of the best teams in the country and has developed some major traditions. Thompson Sr.’s urging of more thugs is part of it: the Big East has always been a highly physical conference that thrives on intimidation and proving toughness. The tendency to bowl people over is not one of their better traits.
The teams were basically even, with a slight advantage to Georgetown, until the last four minutes or so of the first half, when Duke took the game by the throat.
First Jon Scheyer hit a three, then Gerald Henderson hit a pair of them himself. Kyle Singler knocked in a layup, and Duke shut Georgetown out for the rest of the way to take a 41-29 point lead at halftime. Star freshman Greg Monroe picked up three fouls in the first half, too.
In the second half, Georgetown rallied and cut the lead to four before Greg Monroe was called for a technical for something the official heard. Monroe denied saying anything and in fact a fan behind the Georgetown bench might have said it. It gave Monroe his fourth foult and it hurt Georgetown’s cause, but it wasn’t the decisive blow.
While DaJuan Summers was superb, and Monroe showed some real brilliance in this game (he is a brilliant passing big man, as good as anyone we’ve seen in a long time), outside of Austin Freeman, they didn’t get a lot of support. Starting guards Chris Wright and Sapp were shut out in the first half and were benched to start the second and might or might not get their jobs back.
Duke’s perimeter, led by a tremendous performance by Gerald Henderson, made a huge difference in this game. Henderson started out hitting his first seven shots, and had the usual collection of highlights: a beautiful alley-oop on an inbounds and, most impressively, a monster block on Monroe.
Paulus’s contributions were also brilliant, and it was his best game of the season. While Jon Scheyer’s shooting slump continues – he was 2-7 – he and Nolan Smith also played well.
Up front, while Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas combined for only eight minutes, Dave McClure got 19 and Miles Plumlee came in for seven solid minutes.
But most impressive on the front line was Kyle Singler. Despite a rocky first half, which saw some turnovers and a gradual adjustment to Georgetown’s physical style, Singler rebounded, no pun intended. He ended up with 16 boards – half of Duke’s total. In a game when Zoubek and Thomas weren’t really effective, Singler came up huge. He was also unwilling to simply accept Georgetown’s punishing play in the lane. While he’s no doubt been reminded that he picked up two fouls in one play, and that they were his third and fourth, we’re guessing that the coaching staff was also really happy at his display of toughness – and Paulus’s as well. The refusal to back down, coupled with Henderson’s superb game, augurs well for the future.
When the game was over, a fired-up Paulus left the court still animated, pointing to the crowd repeatedly. Emotion aside, it was a good idea, because the crowd was voracious and deserved gratitude. Every so often Cameron hits a high point. Don’t get us wrong, most games are a blast crowd-wise, but some are better than others, and Saturday, the old barn was in very rare form.
