National Basketball Association
Duke 67, VCU 58
When: 7:00 PM ET, Friday, November 23, 2012
Where: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort, Nassau
Officials:
# Jamie Luckie, # Mike Roberts, # Doug Sirmons
Attendance:
3474
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 5 Duke 67, VCU 58: Mason Plumlee finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Blue Devils overcame an uncharacteristic poor shooting effort from the 3-point line to down the Rams in a semifinal game at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas.
Seth Curry had 15 points and seven rebounds for Duke (5-0), which shot 3-of-16 from beyond the arc but went 24-of-27 from the foul line. The Blue Devils will meet No. 2 Louisville in the tournament's title game on Saturday.
Treveon Graham and Juvonte Reddic had 16 points apiece for VCU (3-2), which will square off against Missouri in the third-place game.
The Blue Devils managed to hold a 29-28 advantage at the break as they leaned on Plumlee to bring the ball up the court against the vaunted full-court pressure defense of the Rams. The tactic resulted in just three first-half turnovers for Duke.
The Blue Devils used two layups and a dunk out of the break to spark a half-opening 19-8 run that gave them a 12-point advantage. VCU worked the deficit down to 54-50, but missed six consecutive free throws over a 9:51 stretch that sealed its fate.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Duke has won 22 straight regular-season tournament games, with its last loss coming against Marquette in the championship game of the 2006 CBE Classic. … VCU did not record its first assist until the 2:03 mark of the first half. The Rams finished with four. … The Blue Devils committed just eight turnovers, tying a season low.
Top Game Performances
VCU |
|
Duke |
Treveon Graham 16 |
Scoring |
Mason Plumlee 17 |
Darius Theus 2 |
Assists |
Quinn Cook 9 |
Juvonte Reddic 13 |
Rebounds |
Mason Plumlee 10 |
Rob Brandenberg 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Seth Curry 9 |
Briante Weber 3 |
Steals |
Tyler Thornton 2 |
Juvonte Reddic 1 |
Blocks |
Ryan Kelly 5 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
VCU
|
58 |
33.3 |
4-18 |
12-19 |
4 |
37 |
1 |
5 |
10 |
Duke
|
67 |
41.7 |
3-15 |
24-27 |
14 |
31 |
8 |
4 |
8 |