Dukes 13 point victory over Santa Clara was not a thing of beauty but it is still a win. In the first half Duke was slow, out of sync and clumsy, perhaps the layoff had a bit of an effect but more so the cool confident play of the Broncos and the 29 point effort from guard Kevin Foster and The Devils did not do themselves any favors by only shooting 50% from the free throw line in the first half. Duke had no answers on the defensive end and needed a 7 – 2 run in the closing moments of the first half to manage just a 2 point lead.
Clearly Coach K had words for his team at the half because the defensive pressure was dialed up immediately in the second half. The defensive assignments that were missed were not missed after the break. Duke also held Kevin Foster in check for most of the second half as it built its lead which ballooned to 17 at the 8:30 mark. Foster had 18 in the first, and 11 in the second, most of which was spent shooting 3’s in the waning moments to try to put a dent in the Duke lead.
Seth Curry came alive in the second half and added 18 points to his first half total of 13 and a career high of 31 points. Curry was the most versatile player on the floor, scoring inside and out for Duke. Driving the ball and hitting step back threes and threes off of the break. Mason Plumlee also had a strong game for the Devils scoring 22 points and pulling down 13 rebounds, and after a poor 2 for 6 effort from the foul line, Plumlee went a solid 8 of 9 in the second half. Duke would need every bit Curry and Plumlee had to give as starters Ryan Kelly and Rasheed Sulaimon would struggle going a combined 5 for 16.
Quinn Cook shook off a rocky first half and gave the Devils 15 points and 5 assists to only 2 turnovers, steadying the Devils against a gritty and hungry Santa Clara team.
In the end Duke was able to turn the Broncos over which led to run outs and a 17 to 4 run which sealed the deal for Duke.
Official Basketball Box Score
Santa Clara vs Duke
12/29/12 12:02 pm at Durham, N.C. (Cameron Indoor Stadium)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VISITORS: Santa Clara 11-3
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
15 Marc Trasolini...... f 4-12 0-1 2-4 1 4 5 2 10 0 2 1 0 36
35 Robert Garrett...... c 0-1 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 2 2 0 0 2 1 22
00 Evan Roquemore...... g 6-14 2-7 3-4 2 4 6 4 17 2 3 0 2 38
21 Kevin Foster........ g 12-22 5-11 0-0 0 5 5 3 29 4 5 0 1 35
42 Raymond Cowels III.. g 4-8 2-6 0-0 0 3 3 4 10 0 1 0 2 31
03 Brandon Clark....... 2-4 0-2 5-5 0 0 0 4 9 2 1 0 0 16
20 Denzel Johnson...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
25 John McArthur....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 0 7
31 Niyi Harrison....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
44 Yannick Atanga...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 5 0 0 1 3 1 12
TEAM................ 1 1 2
Totals.............. 28-61 9-27 12-15 7 21 28 26 77 9 14 6 7 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 14-31 45.2% 2nd Half: 14-30 46.7% Game: 45.9% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-15 26.7% 2nd Half: 5-12 41.7% Game: 33.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-6 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-9 88.9% Game: 80.0% 3,1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOME TEAM: Duke 12-0
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Mason Plumlee....... f 6-10 0-0 10-15 3 10 13 2 22 5 2 1 0 39
34 Ryan Kelly.......... f 3-8 1-1 3-3 5 6 11 2 10 2 1 1 1 29
02 Quinn Cook.......... g 6-14 1-2 2-2 1 4 5 3 15 5 2 0 2 36
14 Rasheed Sulaimon.... g 2-8 0-2 2-5 1 0 1 2 6 2 1 0 2 29
30 Seth Curry.......... g 12-18 4-7 3-4 1 2 3 1 31 0 2 0 1 36
03 Tyler Thornton...... 1-2 1-2 0-2 0 1 1 5 3 1 2 0 0 19
12 Alex Murphy......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
15 Josh Hairston....... 1-2 0-0 1-2 1 0 1 2 3 0 1 0 0 11
40 Marshall Plumlee.... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 1 3 4
Totals.............. 31-63 7-14 21-33 14 26 40 17 90 15 11 2 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-28 46.4% 2nd Half: 18-35 51.4% Game: 49.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-8 62.5% 2nd Half: 2-6 33.3% Game: 50.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-14 50.0% 2nd Half: 14-19 73.7% Game: 63.6% 8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Officials: Mike Eades, Sean Hull, Joe Lindsay
Technical fouls: Santa Clara-None. Duke-None.
Attendance: 9314
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Santa Clara................... 36 41 - 77
Duke.......................... 38 52 - 90
SCU - Atanga fouled out at 6:19 in 2nd
DUKE - Thornton fouled out at 6:19 in 2nd
Points in the paint-SCU 32,DU 40. Points off turnovers-SCU 10,DU 23.
2nd chance points-SCU 7,DU 15. Fast break points-SCU 7,DU 11.
Bench points-SCU 9,DU 6. Score tied-6 times. Lead changed-7 times.
Last FG-SCU 2nd-00:02, DU 2nd-01:01.
Largest lead-SCU by 5 1st-19:15, DU by 17 2nd-08:30.
