I believe my heart just started beating again. Duke just gets by Miami, 79-76, and there is a lot to talk about. The obvious is Ryan Kelly, who may have come back a better player than when he went out. Kelly started, played 32 minutes, and was brilliant. Kelly was 10 out of 14 for the game and 7 of 9 from 3-point range on his way to a career high 36 points, after not having played for weeks. Kelly scored 20 points in the first half and no other Duke player had more than 4. Kelly smoothly knocked down jumper after jumper, letting the game come to him, never forcing the action, never really needing to. I’m happy to say I was wrong about an adjustment time being necessary; the White Raven has taken flight. I don’t think anyone, including the Duke coaches, knew Kelly would be the best player on the floor tonight, much less have that much of an impact on this game. He played like the senior leader he is and Duke’s chances of moving deep into the postseason have definitely increased.
Despite Kelly having an out-of-body experience in the first half, Duke trailed by 2. Duke allowed Miami 20 points in the paint and 9 second-chance points to Duke’s 0. Miami was aggressive and lived in the paint against Duke, only the shooting of Kelly prevented a much larger halftime deficit.
There were problems that were evident throughout the game, though they may have been overshadowed by Kelly’s impressive performance. Duke’s defense in the first half was horrendous: Miami got whatever it wanted in the lane and Duke was routinely beaten off the dribble. Duke will need to improve going forward or the blueprint for their demise is simple. Not trying to be a fatalist, this Duke team brings a lot to the table offensively and favorable match ups can make this defense look stellar, but against a team like Miami in a neutral floor this could lead to some issues. Duke was much better defensively toward the middle of the second half, forcing Miami into some tough shots. Duke was also better going after loose balls. Duke lost the rebounding battle against Miami, but this is an interesting stat: Everyone who played for Duke had at least 1 rebound. Hopefully, going forward, this is something Duke can build off of.
Duke did not get a lot of help from its usual suspects. Seth Curry went only 2-8 and 1 of 5 from behind the arc to the tune of 7 points. Miami also did a good job of shutting down Rasheed Sulaimon, who seemed out of sorts offensively for most of the game. Sheed did score 7 crucial points and had 5 rebounds in the game, but also had 4 turnovers. Duke did get 15 from Quinn Cook, who went 3 of 5 from 3-point range and had 5 assists. Mason Plumlee had a pedestrian 12 points and 5 rebounds for the Devils, but also had 2 blocked shots. Mason nearly gave Miami the chance it needed with an errant pass to Seth Curry in the waning seconds of the game with Miami down 2. Fortunately for Mason, Miami would fumble the ball and give it right back.
Duke did not play its best game, and there is a lot of room for improvement going forward, but to exorcise the demons of a 27-point loss in Miami, this game was a must-win. I’ll have more on Kelly’s big return. Congratulations to Ryan Kelly on a new career high and one of the great Duke performances in Duke basketball history. Not since J.J. Redick dropped 41 against Texas has a Dukie performed in such a dominant manner.
Miami clearly is a contender for an ACC and national championship, and Duke is fortunate to escape with the win. Miami will win the regular season title but hopefully Duke will see them again, along with UVA, in the ACC tournament.
MORE LATER ON RYAN KELLY
Official Basketball Box Score
Miami vs Duke
03/02/13 6:10 PM at Durham, N.C. (Cameron Indoor Stadium)
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VISITORS: Miami 23-5, 14-2
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
35 Kenny Kadji......... f 7-13 2-6 1-1 2 8 10 4 17 0 3 0 0 35
42 Reggie Johnson...... c 0-5 0-0 0-0 1 4 5 4 0 1 1 0 0 17
00 Shane Larkin........ g 8-16 2-7 7-8 1 3 4 4 25 4 4 0 0 39
01 Durand Scott........ g 6-16 0-2 0-1 3 2 5 1 12 1 1 0 1 38
04 Trey McKinney Jones. g 4-6 2-3 2-2 0 5 5 1 12 0 0 0 0 28
15 Rion Brown.......... 0-4 0-3 3-4 1 2 3 1 3 0 0 0 0 16
21 Erik Swoope......... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 4
23 Tonye Jekiri........ 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 0 0 5
45 Julian Gamble....... 2-3 0-0 1-1 2 1 3 2 5 0 0 0 0 18
TEAM................ 2 1 3
Totals.............. 28-64 6-21 14-17 13 27 40 20 76 7 10 0 1 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 15-32 46.9% 2nd Half: 13-32 40.6% Game: 43.8% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-9 22.2% 2nd Half: 4-12 33.3% Game: 28.6% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 4-4 100 % 2nd Half: 10-13 76.9% Game: 82.4% 2
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HOME TEAM: Duke 25-4, 12-4
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 5-9 0-0 2-4 2 3 5 2 12 2 1 2 1 37
34 Ryan Kelly.......... f 10-14 7-9 9-12 1 6 7 3 36 1 1 1 2 32
02 Quinn Cook.......... g 5-9 3-5 2-2 0 4 4 3 15 5 3 1 0 39
14 Rasheed Sulaimon.... g 3-7 0-3 1-3 0 1 1 2 7 0 4 0 1 27
30 Seth Curry.......... g 2-8 1-5 2-5 1 4 5 0 7 3 0 0 0 38
03 Tyler Thornton...... 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 5 0 1 0 0 0 17
15 Josh Hairston....... 1-2 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 3 2 0 1 1 0 10
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 26-50 11-23 16-26 4 23 27 18 79 12 10 5 4 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-27 48.1% 2nd Half: 13-23 56.5% Game: 52.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-13 38.5% 2nd Half: 6-10 60.0% Game: 47.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-7 42.9% 2nd Half: 13-19 68.4% Game: 61.5% 3,1
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Officials: Bryan Kersey, Jamie Luckie, Raymond Styons
Technical fouls: Miami-None. Duke-None.
Attendance: 9314
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Miami......................... 36 40 - 76
Duke.......................... 34 45 - 79
DU - Thornton fouled out at 6:01 in 2nd
Points in the paint-UM 36,DU 26. Points off turnovers-UM 8,DU 5.
2nd chance points-UM 20,DU 4. Fast break points-UM 0,DU 7.
Bench points-UM 10,DU 2. Score tied-9 times. Lead changed-13 times.
Last FG-UM 2nd-01:06, DU 2nd-01:55.
Largest lead-UM by 7 1st-06:34, DU by 10 2nd-01:55.
