DURHAM -- The rumors that Kyrie Irving would play Wednesday were persistent enough that the injured Duke freshman point guard addressed them on his Twitter page.
“The rumors are not true,” Irving tweeted. “I will not be playing tonight and I'm still in my walking boot.”
Irving has been out since injuring his right big toe Dec. 4. And watching him gingerly walk around the court in that boot, it appears he is a long way from playing again.
• Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski appeared more angry than he’s been at any other time this season before the first media timeout.
He removed starting center Mason Plumlee from the game and repeatedly shouted at him on the bench. At one point, Krzyzewski even got up from the bench to demonstrate what appeared to be a lazy, plodding running motion in front of Plumlee.
It wasn’t clear exactly what set off Krzyzewski, but he was certainly fired up.
• One of the most impressive things Duke guard Nolan Smith has done late in his senior year is hone his mid-range game.
Smith has been scoring on 3-pointers and driving layups all season. But he has made a couple pull-up, 16-foot jumpers from the left side of the floor in the last two games that have been gorgeous.
• The refereeing crew of Mike Ayers, Sean Hull and Sean Corbin had a rough night.
On consecutive possessions, the crew sent Kyle Singler and then Demontez Stitt to the foul line with questionable foul calls.
Then Nolan Smith bulldozed a Clemson player with a blatant pushoff and fed Ryan Kelly for a dunk. But the worst call might have been a travel on Mason Plumlee after he was blatantly pushed in the back.
