Duke goes inside to defeat St. John's

DURHAM - Associate head coach Steve Wojciechowski's scouting report suggested Duke's post players could hurt St. John's with "muck it out" (in coach Mike Krzyzewski's words) baskets.

So give Wojciechowski an assist as sixth-ranked Duke bounced back from a loss Wednesday at Wisconsin to defeat the Red Storm 80-71 on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Krzyzewski said St. John's has a more athletic team, but Duke senior big men Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas both scored 11 points and combined to shoot 9-for-12 from the field and grab 15 rebounds.

"They've been in a fight before," Krzyzewski said. "This was like a big conference game. It's a fight early in December."

When St. John's (6-1) scored 10 points in a row to cut a Duke lead that had been 16 points down to 54-50 with 10 minutes remaining, the Blue Devils attacked in the lane again to score on six straight possessions.

Junior forward Kyle Singler made a 3-pointer off a kick-out pass from Nolan Smith and added a pair of baskets in the lane as Duke stretched its lead to 68-52 with 5 minutes, 23 seconds remaining.

Singler led Duke with 17 points after scoring a career-high 28 against Wisconsin. He said he's trying to forget the loss Wednesday, but said Duke's players learned in that game that they have to use one another's strengths and play more cohesively on offense.

"In this game it was a focus to try to use each other," Singler said. "Get (kick-out passes), make connecting plays, use our post men to create a different look. I thought we could have done a better job, but we did a decent job tonight."

Krzyzewski said Duke's players were tired Saturday. It was their fourth game in 11 days, which included two Big East opponents and foes from the Pac-10 and Big Ten.

They got back home from Wisconsin at 4 a.m. on Thursday, and players said Krzyzewski lightened the practice load heading into St. John's in order to keep the team fresh. Duke's three leading scorers - Nolan Smith, Singler and Jon Scheyer - had shot a combined 47-for-136 (34.6 percent) over their previous three games.

On Saturday, they combined to shoot 15-for-43, or 34.9 percent. But during the crucial stretch of the game, Singler - who was 6-for-18 for the game - made three field goal attempts in a row.

"Our perimeter hasn't hit its groove yet offensively as far as shooting," Krzyzewski said. "We are really shooting poorly from the perimeter, but they have played well. In pressure situations, they have hit (shots) well."

With Duke (7-1) struggling to score from the perimeter, it helped to have the big guys asserting themselves. With St. John's starting forward Justin Burrell limited to one minute because of a sprained ankle, Thomas and Singler both grabbed eight rebounds to lead all players.

The Blue Devils used a 41-31 rebounding advantage and 17 offensive rebounds to score 17 second-chance points. St. John's scored just five.

"We have to outrebound every team we play against," Thomas said. "We have the size. We have the ability. It's just a matter of, I think rebounding is a mind set. We have to go and get it."

They did, and now they have nine days off for final exams before a Dec. 15 meeting with Gardner-Webb at Cameron. Whatever rest they get while cramming for exams could help their perimeter shooting.

If it doesn't, they still have the option of mucking it out with some post players who are developing toughness and confidence.