It isn’t often that my beloved Blue Devils come close to my hometown in St Louis. I was lucky enough to be at the United Center when Duke gave a heated performance even if it was around 10 degrees outside. The story around this game was Jon Scheyer returning to his home state to show them how far he has come. He didn’t disappoint and in fact dominated the entire game.
Scheyer did it all over the court. Shooting from behind the arc and driving to the basket. Some of the shots that Jon put up were simply amazing. He was at his best tonight in one of the best performances of his career. Of course it came in front of many of his family and friends. When Coach K took him out with a couple minutes left. The entire Duke fan base in the arena rose and cheered. It was great to be a witness in person at how good Scheyer is in his senior year.
It was business as usual with the rest of the team. Singler seems to still be off his game, but he looks like he realizes he doesn’t have to be the star with the talent on this team. The Plumlee brothers both had dunks that got the place rocking. Miles with a alley-opp from Nolan that he pounded through the basket. And Mason with a full extension jam that showed off some of his athletic ability.
Seeing this Duke team live you can really see how good they are. There spacing on offense and defense was great. And even though Iowa State had a few runs that made it interesting, Duke quickly took the reins early in the second half and showed the nation that this Duke team is special.
Duke will spend another game of the road. And this time in a hostile Georgia Tech arena. Tech is much improved being in the top 20 this year, and their front line is a huge test for Duke. If Thomas, Zoubek, and the Plumlees can have the same success against Tech that they did against Iowa State (I know the talent level isn’t the same) then Duke can leave Atlanta with a quality win.
