Duke Moves on, Takes Out Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 73-44

As expected Duke moved to the round of 32 without much trouble form AK-Pine Bluff. Duke was led by Kyle Singlers 22 points and 10 rebounds. Duke was able to attack the 3 point line but also pound it inside against the smaller team. Duke used a 37-22 rebounding edge to limit AKPB to one and done on defense and to recycle possessions on offense. The important things I took from this game were the quality minutes from the bench saving the legs of the starters and the fact that Duke shot well and took quality shots. The starters should go into the game against Cal and former Dukie Jamal Boykin rested and ready.

I think Coach K did a masterful job weaving in the inexperience players into the mix, getting them ready for the pressures of tournament play. What Duke will need to improve on as the competition gets stiffer will be turning those bench minutes into point production, that will put a lot less offensive pressures on the the Big 3 and allow them even more time to rest and recover Duke will have to defend well to get past a Cal team from the Pac-10 with a lot to prove. Duke should be able to out rebound Cal but will have to not only defend the 3point line well but keep the Cal guards out of the lane.