Blue Devils torch Princeton in debut

DURHAM -- Seth Curry waited a whole year for his first basketball game at Duke, and he wasn't disappointed with the result.

Neither was anybody else who had high hopes for the No. 1-ranked Blue Devils, who raced to a season-opening 97-60 win over Princeton on Sunday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

"It's pretty much what we expected, to go out there and play hard for 40 minutes and get up and down the floor in a fast-paced game," said Curry, the Charlotte native who transferred to Duke from Liberty and scored 14 points off the bench in his Blue Devils debut.

Against an opponent that defeated Rutgers of the Big East in overtime to open the season, Duke demonstrated why its preseason expectations are so high.

Princeton has a veteran team that returned its top five scorers from last season but wilted under Duke's aggressive defensive pressure. The Blue Devils forced 27 turnovers, including 17 in the first half to build a 42-28 halftime lead.

Duke struggled a bit on offense in the first half, though. Seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith combined to go 12-for-17 from the field before halftime, but the rest of the team was 4-for-18.

"What we want to do is force turnovers," Smith said. "We didn't really score off those turnovers as much as we would have liked in the first half, but we'll get better at that."

They did get better in the second half. Duke shot a blistering 66.7 percent from the field after halftime, including 72.7 percent (8-for-11) from 3-point range.

It wasn't just Smith and Singler doing the scoring. Singler got in foul trouble in the second half and managed just two of his 16 points after halftime.

But Smith, Curry, Kyrie Irving, Andre Dawkins and Ryan Kelly each hit at least one 3-pointer in the second half as Duke scored 55 points to overwhelm a Princeton team that's known for playing good defense.

"We are very explosive when we start hitting those 3s," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Smith led Duke with 22 points and shot 10-for-15 from the field. His partner in the starting backcourt, highly recruited freshman point guard Irving, also had a big game in a much-anticipated debut.

Irving blocked a shot and stole a pass in the opening 70 seconds. He scored 17 points and handed out nine assists with one turnover.

Reserve guards Curry and Andre Dawkins added 14 and 13 points, respectively. Curry shot 3-for-5 from 3-point range after sitting out last season under NCAA regulations for transfer students.

"It was a whole year of practicing and getting ready for that moment," Curry said.

He is part of an emerging team with a different identity from the 2010 NCAA championship team. Seniors Jon Scheyer, Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas are gone from that team.

Seven of Duke's 10 scholarship players now are sophomores or freshmen. Singler, Smith and junior Miles Plumlee are the only upperclassmen on scholarship. Krzyzewski was asked if the team's new identity contributed to the high energy that impressed him Sunday evening.

"I think there's a newness, yeah," he said. "... It was a nice way to get started."

Duke 97, Princeton 60

Percentages: FG .460, FT .421. 3-point goals: 6-16, .375 (Mavraides 4-5, Foley 1-1, Bray 1-2, Hazel 0-1, Barrett 0-1, Darrow 0-1, Maddox 0-2, Davis 0-3). Team rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 3 (Maddox, Darrow, Barrett). Turnovers: 27 (Maddox 7, Mavraides 5, Bray 4, Connolly 3, Davis 3, Hummer 2, Hazel, Saunders, Barrett). Steals: 7 (Maddox 3, Edwards 2, Connolly, Davis). Technical fouls: none.

Percentages: FG .554, FT .917. 3-point goals: 14-26, .538 (Curry 3-5, Irving 3-6, Dawkins 3-6, Singler 2-3, Smith 2-5, Kelly 1-1). Team rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 5 (Singler 2, Ma. Plumlee 2, Irving). Turnovers: 14 (Smith 4, Mi. Plumlee 3, Kelly 2, Ma. Plumlee 2, Dawkins, Irving, Curry). Steals: 10 (Irving 2, Smith 2, Thornton 2, Singler 2, Hairston, Curry). Technical fouls: none.

Att.-9,314. Officials-Bryan Kersey, Tim Kelly, Ron Tyburski.