Devils swarm Curry, Wildcats

Duke's defense snuffs Davidson early, hangs on late

DURHAM -- With Duke's stifling defense eliminating almost all his options, Stephen Curry seemed to shrug as he fired up a guarded, second-half 3-point shot from the corner in front of the Davidson bunch.

"Airball, airball," the Duke students howled as the ball missed the rim entirely.

Even Curry, the nation's leading scorer was no match Wednesday night for a No. 2-ranked Duke team whose defense was occasionally impenetrable in a 79-67 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Curry reached his scoring average of 29 points but had to work awfully hard to do it. The Blue Devils (13-1) switched on screens against Curry to prevent him from getting a shot and as a result used six different defenders against him.

"It's a special team that can be able to do that, throw different guys at you and not miss a beat," Curry said.

Forwards Kyle Singler, Lance Thomas and Dave McClure held out their long arms in front of them to create distance between them and Curry to stop him from driving. Guards Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer and Greg Paulus also took turns against Curry.

Singler scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half, drawing the defense out with a pair of 3-pointers from the wing opposite the Davidson bench and then driving the lane. Seventeen of Scheyer's 22 points came in the second half, which opened with a dunk by Gerald Henderson off the opening inbounds pass. Duke scored 14 of the first 16 points in the half and led 63-38 with 11 minutes, 54 seconds remaining.

"They put you on your heels," Davidson coach Bob McKillop said. "I've been doing this for 20 years against Duke. They expose you. They undress you."

Just when it appeared safe for viewers at home to switch away from ESPN's heavily-promoted, Mike Tirico-Mark Jackson-Jeff Van Gundy broadcast, Davidson (10-3) showed the determination that helped it reach the NCAA Midwest Regional final last season.

Andrew Lovedale, who blocked four shots, protected the basket and helped the Wildcats get loose on the fast break. Curry scored on drives and got to the free-throw line, and Lovedale cut the deficit to 69-61 on a layup with 3:53 remaining.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said he told his players that Davidson has won 90 percent of its games over the past three seasons and wouldn't quit. The statistic was an exaggeration, but Krzyzewski made his point.

"All was well in Krzyzewskiville," he said. "And then all of a sudden the clouds came. And the wind. And it's eight points, and Lance [Thomas] is on the line. How ... did that happen?"

The Blue Devils shook off Davidson by spreading the floor, running clock and getting timely offensive rebounds from Scheyer and Thomas. When Thomas made both ends of a 1-and-1, the 10-point lead with 2:40 remaining was fairly comfortable.

Even Curry couldn't produce enough magic to overcome that kind of margin at Cameron. He reached his scoring average, grabbed eight rebounds and handing out six assists but didn't have his typical, jaw-dropping night.

His first points came on a driving layup with 6:03 remaining in the first half, and he made just one of his eight 3-point attempts and committed seven turnovers. He said he rushed some open shots, so maybe the Blue Devils didn't get his best performance.

But their defense probably had a lot to do with that.

"He played well, and he made some big plays," Scheyer said, "but I thought we did a good job."

DUKE 79, DAVIDSON 67

FGFTReb

DavidsonMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPts

Rossiter311-42-24-10154

Lovedale366-123-42-70315

P-Gosselin313-70-02-4236

Barr171-40-00-1013

Curry3810-228-91-86429

McKillop181-40-20-0133

Civi00-00-00-0000

Archamblt253-50-00-1027

Ben-Eze00-00-00-0010

Allison40-00-00-0020

Team2

Totals20025-5813-1711-33102467

Percentages: FG .431, FT .765. Three-point goals: 4-17, .235 (McKillop 1-2, Archambault 1-3, Barr 1-4, Curry 1-8). Blocked shots: 4 (Lovedale 4). Turnovers: 17 (Curry 7, Lovedale 4, Paulhus Gosselin 2, Archambault 2, Allison, Barr). Steals: 5 (Paulhus Gosselin 2, Curry 2, McKillop).

FGFTReb

DukeMinM-AM-AO-TAPFPts

Singler368-183-44-63122

Henderson253-114-40-71211

Zoubek172-43-43-9147

Smith322-80-10-3244

Scheyer366-117-82-34322

Paulus152-31-20-2006

McClure141-10-00-2112

Williams50-10-01-1000

Thomas201-23-44-4015

Team0

Totals20025-5921-2714-37121679

Percentages: FG .424, FT .778. Three-point goals: 8-20, .400 (Scheyer 3-4, Singler 3-8, Paulus 1-2, Henderson 1-3, Smith 0-3). Blocked shots: 3 (Henderson, Singler, Zoubek). Turnovers: 12 (Singler 4, Henderson 3, Paulus 2, Smith 2, Scheyer). Steals: 6 (Scheyer 3, Singler, Smith, Zoubek).

Davidson2443--67

Duke3742--79

A--9,314.