Devils Run Past Oregon 98 – 71 in Matchup of Singlers

Duke one again destroys an outmatched opponent despite themselves. Kyle Singlers homecoming say him score a career high 30 points, but also saw the devils turn the ball over 19 times to only 11 by the Oregon Ducks. Luckily for the Devils Singler brought his A game, Singler came off of curls a-la J.J. Redick, drove to the basket and finished through contact, knocked down the mid-range jumper and also managed to grab 5 boards. Dukes offense was anything but crisp and efficient in the first half, possibly due to holiday lay-off or the fact that the Devils have been on the road for a solid week.

Despite  6 turnovers and looking a little shaky at the point Nolan Smith brought a string offensive game as well with 18 points, 5 assists and 6 rebounds. Kyrie Irviing once again was able to get to the basket at will but did have a few freshman mistakes with the ball, all things that the Devils will iron out hopefully before the Michigan State game on Wednesday. The good signs are that this team is well capable of shooting itself out of trouble when it shoots itself in the foot.

The story of the game aside from Kyle Singler taking it to his brother EJ, who scored 14, was the play of Andre Dawkins who has been a one man bench for the Devils. Coming off the bench Dawkins scored 14 points in 21 minutes with an incredibly sweet stroke from 3 point range. Dawkins could start for any other team in the country including this one. He could also just make a living camped out behind the arc, but if defenses only play him for the 3 he has the ability to get to the hole and finish strong there will be occasion for this to happen this year I’m pretty certain. It’s plain to see that the light has come on for Dawkins and he’s enjoying his role as sniper. It will be deadly if he and Curry are able to put together strong games together, it will make the Devils unbeatable.

Also having strong games were the Plumlee brothers, not from the field but both recorded double digit rebounding numbers. Miles with 10 and Mason with 12. Mason also used his time wisely scoring 7 points, and recording 4 blocks and 2 steals, including one for a finish at the basket.

One note on Mason free throw shooting as noted by @NYcoach from http://www.blogtalkradio.com/offtheboards, had been anything but stellar and although he has not had a ton of attempts from the line he is shooting about 40%. This will probably be a concern for the Devils going into some tough physical games. Hopefully with more attempts Mason will get stronger at the line.

All in all a good homecoming for Kyle Singler, it was good to see he and EJ go at it and great for the Singler parents to get to see both sons on the floor together. One gets the sense that EJ could be something special on a team where he is the number one option, and hopefully Oregon in his next couple of years will turn into a contender. He made some heady plays in the game reminiscent of big brother.

• Jim Sumner On Duke-Oregon!
• Kyle Singler leads Duke over Oregon and brother EJ
• Kyle and EJ Singler, together again, soak it all in
• Singler v. Singler as Duke wins
• Duke 98, Oregon 71
• Singler’s 30 leads top-ranked Duke past Oregon
• Singler’s career day leads Duke over Oregon
• Box Score
• Blue Devils Dunk Ducks 98-71
• AP Photos: Duke 98, Oregon 71
• Quotes: Duke 98, Oregon 71
• Singler v. Singler in No. 1 Duke’s win over Oregon
• Singler brings it home
• Oregon basketball: Kyle and E.J. Singler, together again, soak it all in
• Duke 98, Oregon 71: Kyle Singler scores 30 for Blue Devils in homecoming game