The game started out with Jabari Parker scoring first. A little later Rasheed Sulaimon missed a 3, but he was soon going to go on a tear -- except on the free throw line.
Of course, Parker knows how to score, but teams apparently know how to score off him as NC State scored their first four points against him.
Sulaimon hit his next 3 and his point scoring started.
Matt Jones and Josh Hairston entered the game and they quickly hooked up for a score with Jones passing it into Hairston at around the ten minute mark.
And then within seconds, Hairston got his first foul.
Rodney Hood was playing some tough defense on ACC Player of the Year T.J. Warren to prevent him from getting the ball with 6 minute left in the 1st half. He got called for the foul after one too many bumps.
As the second half started, I couldn't help but notice how Sulaimon was taking it to the rim. I'm sure this is how the coaches felt about Duke's offense abilities as the season was starting: Parker, Hood and Sulaimon. You can't double team all three at once.
At the 15 minute mark, Parker got a loose ball and took it in for the monster jam of the game and that was it. Yeah, the game was still close at that point, but that started Duke's run as Duke slowly pulled away over the next two minutes. Parker's monster jam inspired some top notch defense -- or perhaps NC State's shooting percentage was just reverting back to the norm (they shot like 65%+ in the first half.)
I could help but wonder in the 2nd half: Where is Andre Dawkins? He usually gets 7 to 10 minutes a game.
How was it that Sulaimon didn't have 30 in this game? In fact, he would have been the top scorer of the game if he could have hit his free throws. I believe he missed five straight.
With 4 minutes left in the game, the teams started to look tired.
The Duke coaches must have noticed how NC State was scoring on Parker during the first few minutes of the game, because they put him on the bench for defensive purposes with 2:30-ish left in the game. He came back into the game at the right time. Hood got fouled and miss the first of a 1 and 1. Parker grabbed the rebound and scored. Duke was up by 10.
The game got a little closer as the clock ran down, but it wasn't ever in doubt. The one problem that could hurt come March Madness was that Duke just couldn't deal with the full court press (nothing new there). Quinn Cook was getting trapped. Hood couldn't get the ball inbounds.
NC State had a bit of a communication problem during the closing 2 minutes. NC State Ralston Turner must not have been listening during a time-out, because he fouled Sulaimon with about 12 seconds left on the possession clock. Of course, Sulaimon missed the first -- but made the second. Turner went to the bench and got an earful.
Opinion on Parker vs. Hood. Parker is better in the paint when someone passes the ball into him. Hood is better in the paint in terms of being able to drive.
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