Duke starts out slow, but in the end drains UNC Greensboro

In a game that was neck and neck 18 minutes into the game, Austin Rivers led Duke on an 11 point advantage to end the first half. UNC Greensboro held onto Duke in a game played in Durham. Once again Coach K instilled a deep rotation especially in the back court. The half court trap for duke was working for them in the beginning as it was causing lots of turnovers. The main difference between the two teams was the rebounding difference. Duke dominated both the offensive and the defensive glass. Both of the Plumlees each had 13 rebounds. Duke had 12 turnovers in the first half, which is unorthodox for a team coached by Coach K. That number was cut in half in the second half as they only turned the ball over 6 times. The three point shot was working for Duke towards the end of the first half and for the duration of the second half as they shot 41 % from deep.

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The highly touted freshman from Winter Park, Austin Rivers led a deep run at the end of the first half with a few huge 3 pointers. That ultimately shifted the momentum and the game towards Duke. After leading 45-34 at the end of the first half the Duke Blue Devils never looked back. They then went on a 14-4 run to begin the second half and ended up defeating UNC Greensboro 90-63. Duke now is 10-1 for the season and is 5-1 at home. This loss drops UNC Greensboro to 2-10 for the year, which is a deceiving record as they have played many challenging teams. Duke has three more non conference games until they open up the ACC @ Georgia Tech. The three non conference games for Duke are Western Michigan and Penn at home, and a very tough Temple Owl team away at Temple. Coach K stressed at the end of the game about how Duke needs to improve on turnovers as that cannot happen during league play. Duke is #7 in the nation at this point in the AP poll and in the ESPN/USA they are #5.

By: Matt Swiman
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer