Duke cruises to a classic Sweet 16 matchup.
by Branden Peters / @KUHVET
PRE-GAME
Surprising 8 seed Cal is set to take on controversial 1 seed Duke in a big 2nd round matchup. Duke is coming off of a complete dismantling of Arkansas Pine-Bluff while Cal is coming off of a blowout of Pitino’s Louisville Cardinals squad.
It’s all going to come down to Duke’s big 3 (Smith, Scheyer and Singler) vs. Cal’s big three (Robertson, Randle and Christopher. This should be a high scoring affair.
Duke traveled well, the Blue Devil fans are super deep.
FIRST HALF
– First Cal possession Christopher gets hit and gets taken out of the game for an unknown reason. He’s replaced by Nikola Knezevic (aka an Eastern Euro player who can’t shoot).
– Nolan Smith is driving on Cal’s defense at will.
– Randle with a nasty spin move finally takes it to the hole and scores.
– Duke’s size advantage is very apparent on the offensive end. They are hurting Cal with precise screens. They just haven’t knocked down the open looks very often.
– Boykin is hitting the midrange J with consistency. That could make a big difference. He is a Duke transfer btw. He’s also trying to do too much down low.
– Christopher comes back into the game for Cal at the 12:44 mark.
– Randle and Gutierrez are getting to the hole at will on Duke now.
– Smith throws a great oop to Singler who dunks it backwards.
– Duke is executing their offense a lot easier than Cal is which is why they are up by 7. Duke is playing team ball while every Cal possession is a 1 on 1 trip.
– Duke is playing a very active game, Nolan Smith continues to play better than anyone else on the floor. Cal just can’t keep up with him off the picks.
At the half Duke is up 37-24 and Cal looks totally outmanned.
SECOND HALF
– Theo Robertson starts off strong taking the ball to the rack for Cal but Nolan Smith answers right back with a 3 off of a pump fake. Nolan has 14 and is 6-11 from the field.
– Gutierrez is driving often, not hitting but getting to the line as a result.
– Cal on an 8-0 run behind back to back 3 pointers by Randle and Robertson. Cal s
till trails by 9 points.
– Back to back buckets by Zoubek puts Duke lead back to double digits.
– With 11 minutes to go in the second half Christopher has 2 points for Cal. His inconsistent play is rearing its ugly head at the wrong time for the Golden Bears.
– Gutierrez went down after a collision with Scheyer. He stayed down for about a minute before getting up. He’s been replaced by Knezevic.
– Duke is forcing a lot of fouls. Singler just drew a big one. He is at the line for 3 shots. Duke is up by 13.
– Cal’s band is chanting Yeti as Zoubek is at the line. Followed by an “oh no its Bigfoot chant.”
– Bigfoot later responds with a dunk as time is running down on the shot clock, putting Duke up by 19.
– The majority of the crowd has headed for the exit doors. This one is over. Randle, Robertson and Christopher have combined for 9 points in the second half. On the flipside Smith and Singler have been pretty much unstoppable.
– At the 1:30 mark Coach K has put in the scrubs. It is officially a rout.
– Final Score: Duke 68, Cal 53.
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