This is a game that Duke seemed to want to pull away, but couldn't. In fact, they were up 15 with just a tad under 11 minutes left. Michigan didn't give up, but I also believe that Duke didn't show a killer instinct early on. Kyle Singler missed the front end of two one on ones. And Mason Plumlee missed two of his free throws. Let's assume Singler makes 3 of 4 and Plumlee makes 1 of 2, Duke is up 40-33 to end the half versus 36-33.
I thought Andre Dawkins played well. Ryan Kelly was solid from the floor. It was interesting that in the second half, Duke went away from playing the big guys. Towards the end, Duke had four guards and Kelly. I suppose it is good that Kyrie Irving is back (sarcasm, of course). As for Kyrie Irving, I thought his lateral defense was much better. He didn't make any major errors on offense. He didn't seem to have that speed to the basket like he showed during the first part of the season or during the last five minutes of the Hampton game. Of course, I'm sure that will come.
As for one reason why Duke gave up their 15 point lead, was because Michigan shifted to a 1-3-1 zone which neither Irving or Nolan Smith was able to breakdown.
Duke only shot 5-20 from the three-point range. It is nice to see that they can win when their three point shooting is cold.
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