How Duke basketball clamped down defensively to post an ACC win at California

Berkeley, Calif.

Duke’s defense returned to its early-season form just in time to win its first-ever game at Cal.

The sixth-ranked Blue Devils held the Golden Bears to only one field goal during a decisive 10-minute stretch in the second half and pulled away for a 71-56 victory Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion.

After Texas Tech shot 55 percent in Duke’s only loss just before Christmas, the Blue Devils (16-1, 5-0 ACC) allowed their first four conference opponents to shoot 50.4 percent, ranking 16th in the ACC.

But Duke managed to navigate screens and didn’t fall for shot fakes against the Golden Bears (13-5, 1-4), who shot 36.5 percent from the field.

“That’s been a point of emphasis for us — how to sustain the defensive intensity, the defensive awareness that you need,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.

Duke forced Cal guards Dai Dai Ames and Justin Pippin into a combined 5 of 22 shooting, while 3-point specialist Chris Bell was 1 of 10 from beyond the arc.

“We tried to play five men on a string — just let the ball pull you,” Duke guard Isaiah Evans said. “We stayed solid.”

With the defense holding Cal in check, the offense finally picked up behind Cameron Boozer. The star freshman dominated inside in the second half and finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds after being held to four points and three rebounds in a quiet first half.

“Cam has been so consistent,” Scheyer said. “We rely on him for a lot. Probably was one of his worst first halves he’s had all year and I knew he was going to respond. He controlled the boards, his playmaking, his paint attacks, and he’s really mature with his approach.”

Duke only led by 3 with 10 minutes remaining, but made 9 of its next 11 field goals, all on dunks and layups, during its game-changing 21-5 run. Six of those shots were made by Boozer, who asserted himself inside, and his slam with 4:08 remaining made it 68-51.

“I just had to get going, whether it was lay-ups or dunks,” Boozer said. “Just had to find a way.”

Duke finished 7 of 32 (21.9 percent) from three-point range and 8 of 17 (47.1 percent) from the free-throw line, but dominated the paint with a 42-16 edge in points and outrebounded Cal 44-30.

“I thought most of the 3s we took were great shots, but they didn’t have an answer for us in the paint,” Scheyer said. “So we’re asking them to understand the inflection points, what our strengths are, and I thought we did a great job just hammering it inside the last 10-15 minutes and we got separation.”

Duke finally hit from outside in the second half when freshman Nikolas Khamenia’s 3-pointer gave Duke a 71-52 lead with three minutes remaining. Khamenia, a Los Angeles native, scored 10 points and grabbed four rebounds and was plus-24 in his return to California.

Playing in a game that started at 11:10 p.m. Eastern Time, Duke opened with back-to-back turnovers and had five in the first seven minutes, which led to seven Cal points as the Golden Bears took a 13-7 lead.

The teams then traded 12-2 runs, with Duke going up 19-15 and Cal responding to lead 27-21. But the Blue Devils closed the first half with 13 straight points to go up 37-30 at halftime. Evans, who finished with 17 points, punctuated the run with a spin move and dunk, followed by a long three with 20 seconds left.

Cal kept it close early in the second half, but Duke’s defense finally silenced the sellout crowd that included Steph, Seth and Dell Curry.

“That was a great defensive performance from us. We needed a game like that,” Boozer said. “Starting the year we were one of the best teams in the country in effective field goal percentage, so we just needed to get back to that.”

Now Duke will try to do something only one team (Wake Forest) has achieved since Cal and Stanford joined the ACC last season – win both games of the West Coast trip.

The Blue Devils prepared for Cal by arriving in Oakland two days early and adjusting their sleep schedule by not sleeping on the flight and taking cold plunges in the morning. They will now try to recover before facing Stanford on Saturday at 6 p.m.

“I think it’s important how we handle tomorrow,” Scheyer said. “(Cal and Stanford) have to do (cross-country trips) all the time, and we just have to do it once. We’re a no-excuse program. Whatever time we’re playing, we’ll be ready. The key is how we handle the next couple of days out here.”