CHUCK LIDDY - cliddy@newsobserver.com
Duke forward Mason Plumlee (5) and brother Miles Plumlee (21) sandwich Colorado State forward Greg Smith (44) in the first half of play to stop a shot.
DURHAM -- Spurred by its 22-point loss to Ohio State last week, Duke was a different team in a couple of critical respects in its 87-64 win over Colorado State on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Andre Dawkins began the game on the bench, for one, replaced in the starting lineup by Tyler Thornton after Dawkins’ disappointing effort against the Buckeyes (zero points in 19 minutes).
Whether he was motivated by the change or not, the junior was dynamic when he made it onto the court against the Rams, scoring 15 points in 12 minutes before leaving the game with back spasms.
“A 2(2)-point loss to Ohio State leads to a lot of things,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It wasn’t Andre’s fault – it was our fault. But you look at other ways. We’re still very much a developing team.”
Enjoying its first break in game action this season after it had played eight games over a 19-day stretch, seventh-ranked Duke (8-1) spent much of the last week working on its defense. It became a point of emphasis after Ohio State, anchored by imposing center Jared Sullinger, made nearly 60 percent of its field-goal attempts.
Duke faced a different kind of challenge against Colorado State (5-4).
The Rams led the country in 3-point shooting coming into the game, having made 45.6 percent of their 3-pointers on the season. They sometimes played five guards at the same time against Duke.
That forced the Blue Devils to be aggressive in getting out on the perimeter, which sometimes led to easy buckets.
After Colorado State’s Dorian Green drove from the corner to the basket for an uncontested dunk early in the second half, Krzyzewski got up from his seat and immediately pointed to Quinn Cook and Josh Hairston on the bench, letting them know he wanted them to go in the game.
When another defensive breakdown happened before the next official timeout, Krzyzewski called for one himself.
“They put up to five guards out there who could handle the ball and take it out, so there wasn’t a lot of help-side defense like there would be in a normal game,” Duke’s Ryan Kelly said.
The defense didn’t have any glaring breakdowns the rest of the way, and the Blue Devils’ players felt progress had been made. Colorado State shot a whisker over 40 percent, but it didn’t hurt Duke with many 3-pointers, making only four.
“I thought we did good,” said Mason Plumlee, who had a strong all-around game, finishing with 14 points, 10 rebounds, five blocks and four steals.
”There were a couple lapses at the beginning of the second half where we didn’t do as good of a job. But it got better. More often than not, I felt our defense was there.”
Austin Rivers led Duke with 17 points while Miles Plumlee chipped in with 14 points and five rebounds.
If not for Dawkins’ injury, Duke would have few misgivings about the game.
Coming in just before the first media timeout, Dawkins gave Duke a spark when he entered, hitting a 3-pointer and dunking the ball twice in his first minutes.
After his promising start, Dawkins collided with a Colorado State player and hit the floor hard with 3:13 remaining in the first half. He lay on the court for a minute or so before getting up and heading to the Blue Devils’ locker room.
Dawkins didn’t return to the bench for the rest of the game.
Krzyzewski said he was back in the training room suffering from back spasms. The first one actually happened just before Dawkins fell to the floor.
“We’re hopeful he’ll be ready for Saturday,” Krzyzewski said.
