Tudor: Plumlee shows rebounding prowess in first career start

DURHAM -- Other than to check the game score, Mason Plumlee only looks at the scoreboard to get updates on his foul and rebound totals.

For a while in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, the Duke sophomore had a lot to read about during his first-ever ACC start.

Less than eight minutes into a 76-60 win over Virginia, the 6 foot 10 forward had nine rebounds.

Given that pace for the entire game, Plumlee would have broken the school record of 31 by Bernie Janicki (Feb. 29, 1952 against North Carolina) about five or so minutes into the second half.

“We didn’t want to sub Mason out. He was getting all of the rebounds,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Plumlee calmed down but still finished with a Duke career-best 16, or roughly 36 percent of the team’s 42 total rebounds.

Told that he was still 15 off the Duke record, Plumlee could only laugh in disbelief.

“Wow, 31 in one game? That’s too tough,” he said. “Shoot, I thought I was really doing something, but I wasn’t even close.”

Duke (16-1 overall, 3-1 ACC) needed all Plumlee and everyone else – primarily Nolan Smith – could muster against the long-shot Cavaliers (10-7, 1-2).

For much of the afternoon, the 22-point underdogs not only had a lead but were dictating the tempo right there on K Court to the No. 1-ranked (for now) Blue Devils.

At halftime, when Duke was still down six points after a fairly impressive rally, Plumlee said Krzyzewski was plenty irritated. Having lost at Florida State on Wednesday, back-to-back defeats would have made for a miserable conclusion to a miserable week.

“It wasn’t just Coach. Everybody in here was very upset,” Plumlee said. “We have to be better than that [first half] . We have to be a lot better than that.”

With Smith scoring 29 points and Andre Dawkins getting 12 of his 14 after intermission, Duke did get better.

Plumlee, who didn’t have a point at the half, wound up with five. But including 6-11 Ryan Kelly’s eight, the Duke bigs struggled yet again to score, and that’s even if you throw in Kyle Singler’s 13.

Plumlee thinks that trend will change. It’s for sure Duke needs it to change.

“In my case, I’m getting good looks, but I think I’m just rushing my shots too much,” Plumlee said. “It’ll come around as long as we keep working. We have the talent to be a good inside offensive team.”

And in all fairness, Virginia’s defense is above average for a team that’s lost its best inside player, 6-8 senior Mike Scott, to injuries and can’t keep 7-foot junior Assane Sene out of foul trouble. At times, Tony Bennett is forced to use one of the league’s shortest groups.

“But they’re really quick with that [small] lineup,” Plumlee said. “Their quickness gave us a lot of trouble.”

But that lack of size can’t completely account for Plumlee’s 16 rebounds. Against big, deep Florida State, he had 14.

“Thirty in two games. That’s an asset being developed, which is what we have to do as a team now [with Kyrie Irving hurt],” Krzyzewski said.

The No. 1 rebounding output during the Krzyzewski era is 21 by Elton Brand (Nov. 27, 1998 against Fresno State).

Plumlee is trending in that direction, and it’s a near certainty that he won’t soon be pulled from the starting lineup.