Duke Blue Devils vs Kansas State Wildcats Basketball Recap

Duke 82, Kansas State 68

In a highly anticipated game played in Kansas City, the championship of the O’Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic, matching No. 1 Duke and No. 4 Kansas State, was played in front of a heavily pro-Wildcat crowd, just two hours from KSU’s Manhattan (Kansas) campus. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, with the win, became the fifth coach to reach 800 wins at the same school, and with 873 coaching victories overall, he is now only four behind Adolph Rupp for third place on the all-time Division I list.

After a tightly-contested start, the Blue Devils pulled to a 47-39 lead at the half with dominating backcourt play. Duke guards Kyrie Irving and Nolan Smith hit for 12 and 11 points respectively on combined 7-of-14 shooting. The Wildcats’ pre-season first-team All-American guard Jacob Pullen, averaging 16.5 points per game in the young season, was held to a single 3-pointer from the corner with just under three minutes left in the half.

Kansas State managed to close its deficit to 48-43 to start the second half, but Irving and Smith applied pressure up and down the court, enabling the Blue Devils to pull away for a 64-47 lead with just under 12 minutes to play.

Pullen finished with just 4 points on 1-of-12 shooting with 1 assist and 4 turnovers. Kansas State’s starting lineup scored only 23 points, while the bench carried the load with 45 points, led by forwards Curtis Kelly (19 points, 6 rebounds) and Jamar Samuels (12 points, 6 boards). Guard Martavious Irving rounded out the double-digit scorers for the Wildcats with 11 points, shooting 5-of-8 from the field.

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Duke’s guards managed to shut down Pullen, who had played on the USA Basketball Men’s College Select Team this summer and scrimmaged against Krzyzewski’s USA team, which was preparing for the World Championships. The Blue Devils used a smothering defense that prevented transition speed or open shots from developing for the Kansas State star.

Duke’s veterans are accustomed to playing big games in hostile environments, winning last year’s NCAA championship in Indianapolis with a large contingent of local (and underdog-cheering) Butler partisans in attendance. Tuesday night, the Blue Devils managed to pull away after the second TV timeout in the first half. By maintaining pressure on defense, hitting free throws (24-of-31), and delivering balanced scoring (five Duke players posted double-figure point totals), the Wildcats’ contingent of fans was not a factor in the game.

The Blue Devils were led by guards Kyrie Irving (17 points, 6 assists, 2 steals), Nolan Smith (17 points, 4 assists, 5 rebounds), and Andre Dawkins (11 points). Forwards Kyle Singler (11 points, 3 rebounds, 1 blocked shot) and Mason Plumlee (10 points, 5 rebounds, 1 block) rounded out the top scorers.  Guard Seth Curry added 6 points, 2 assists and 5 steals for the Duke backcourt.

Krzyzewski has, since 2008, coached squads to Olympic gold, an NCAA championship, and a world championship. In this game, he focused his squad’s attention on Pullen with devastating impact, limiting the Wildcats’ 3-point shooting to a paltry 3-of-17 rate.  He has a lot of talent (Singler, Kelly, Plumlee) that was not even fully utilized in this test, and there is good reason to believe that he could well add another title with this team in the newly-unfolding season. His 873 overall wins are just 29 shy of Bob Knight’s all-time record of 902.

By: David Minter
DFN Sports Staff Writer