Miami Rally Falls Short At No. 1 Duke

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DURHAM, N.C.. (AP) – Nolan Smith scored a season-high 28 points to lead top-ranked Duke in the 74-63 win over Miami in the league opener for both teams on Sunday.

Reserve guard Andre Dawkins added 16 points for the Blue Devils (13-0, 1-0), who have won 23 straight games dating to last season’s run to the ACC and NCAA tournament titles. Kyle Singler added 14 points on a night when the Blue Devils didn’t shoot all that well but still maintained a comfortable lead for much of the game.

It was a good start as the Blue Devils aim for a 12th ACC regular-season crown under Mike Krzyzewski. Smith had a run of 13 straight points in the first half that gave Duke its double-digit lead, and the Hurricanes (11-4, 0-1) played the reigning champions basically even the rest of the way.

“You don’t win one of those (banners) without showing up every day in our conference,” Krzyzewski said. “It’s just different. You don’t play for your total record. You play for your ACC record. That’s the way we’ve approached it, especially since the mid ’90s. And we get better as a result of doing that.”

The Blue Devils led by 13 points at halftime and Miami twice got as close as nine, the last time at 56-47 on a layup by Durand Scott with about 6 1/2 minutes to play. But the Blue Devils answered with a 7-0 run capped by a jumper and a long 3-pointer from Dawkins that made it 63-47 with 4:33 left.

Reggie Johnson tied his career high with 22 points for Miami and added nine rebounds and a pair of blocks, despite battling foul trouble much of the game.

The Hurricanes missed 14 of 17 3-point attempts and shot 37 percent overall. That included plenty of shots in the paint, particularly while Johnson sat on the bench and Smith went on his run.

“It’s kind of demoralizing when you have those bunnies around the hoop and you don’t make them,” Miami coach Frank Haith said. “We missed a lot of those in the first half. We had some open looks there at the end – guys who normally make shots … and we just didn’t knock them down.”

Smith went 9 of 15 from the field, closing his night with his fourth 3 to beat the shot clock with about a minute left.

“My teammates set some screens, got me open in transition and the shots were able to fall,” Smith said. “I think I’m at my best when I’m in the aggressive mindset to make plays for my teammates as well as myself.”

Duke has dominated the series overall, winning 10 of 11 meetings since Miami joined the ACC before the 2004-05 season. But the Hurricanes had played the Blue Devils well of late, edging Duke by one at home in 2008 and losing the next three meetings by a combined 13 points.

This one fit right in for about 15 minutes, but that’s when Smith got rolling.

  1st 2nd F
Miami 24 39 63
No. 1/1 Duke 37 37 74
Team Stat Comparison
  um.gif UM LogoDuke
Points 63 74
FG Made-Attempted 24-65 26-60
FG Percentage 36.9 43.3
3P Made-Attempted 3-17 8-22
3P Percentage 17.6 36.4
FT Made-Attempted 12-20 14-15
FT Percentage 60.0 93.3
Rebounds 41 39
Assists 8 9
Turnovers 12 13
Miami Stat Leaders Duke
R. Johnson 22 Points 28 N. Smith
R. Johnson 9 Rebounds 10 Mason Plumlee
M. Grant 5 Assists 5 N. Smith
A. Thomas 2 Steals 4 A. Dawkins
R. Johnson 2 Blocks 4 Mason Plumlee

First came a shot in the lane, followed by a 3-pointer.

Then another 3.

Then another.

A little more than a minute after that four-possession flurry, Smith lost Scott around a screen and blew in for a slam that sent Cameron into a frenzy and gave Duke a 35-22 lead with 1:48 left in the half.

As for the Hurricanes, they couldn’t blame their big halftime deficit on Smith alone. They shot 9 of 35 (26 percent) and made just 1 of 10 3-point tries. It also hurt that Johnson played just 5 minutes in the half after picking up two quick fouls.

“Coming into the game, Coach told me to be aggressive,” Johnson said. “If I get a foul called, I get a foul called.”

Smith has scored at least 22 points in four straight games and played all 40 minutes Sunday as the primary ballhandler with star freshman point guard Kyrie Irving still out indefinitely with an injured right big toe.

Tonight’s Starters
Starting for Miami for the second-straight game was Durand Scott, Malcolm Grant, DeQuan Jones, Erik Swoope and Reggie Johnson. It marked Swoope’s fourth-straight start and Jones’ second straight and seventh of the season overall.

Big Numbers from Big Reg
Reggie Johnson
was just one rebound shy of his ninth double-double this season, finishing with a career-high tying 22 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 23 minutes versus top-ranked Duke. He shot 9-of-10 from the field and hit 4-of-6 free throws, and got the Hurricanes offense going in the first half by scoring the first seven points for Miami as it took the early 7-6 lead.

Over the last two games versus Duke, Johnson is averaging 18 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2 steals an outing, converting 75 percent from both the field (12-16) and the charity stripe (12-16).

Three for Three
Despite averaging 7.9 three-pointers per game at a .396 clip, Malcolm Grant was the only Hurricane that managed to connect from long range versus the Blue Devils, going 3-of-7 from beyond the arc. As a team, UM shot 3-of-17 from downtown, hitting just 17.6 percent — the second lowest three-point percentage for the ‘Canes this season. Miami hit a season-low one trey in the win over Akron (12/23/10), converting just 9.1 percent (1-11).

That said, the Hurricanes fared well in the paint — outscoring Duke, 38-26, in that area.

Big D
The Hurricanes outscored the Blue Devils in the second half, 39-37, while Miami’s defense limited Duke to a season-low 74 points for the game. Duke converted 43.3 percent for the game — its second-lowest shooting percentage this season. It’s lowest — a 43.1 percent output versus the other Miami (Ohio), in a 79-45 win on Nov. 16.

Coming Up Next
The Hurricanes, winners of four of their last five and nine of their last 11, return to the road to face Clemson on Sat., Jan. 8, at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.