Thursday Morning Shootaround

Duke 79, Davidson 67: It was a tale of two halves for Steph Curry. In the first half, he was very tentative with the ball and didn't hit a shot until there were nine minutes gone. Duke's defense had a heck of a lot to do with that. They switched every screen involving Curry - on the ball or off the ball. Basically, Duke wasn't going to let Curry beat them with the three. It worked, as Curry struggled in the first half getting open looks and finished the game just 1-8 from deep.

Duke used a 13-4 run towards the end of the first half to open up a close game and take a 37-24 lead into halftime. They pushed that lead out to 25 before Steph Curry brought Davidson back.

The other day I wrote an article questioning whether Steph Curry was overrated. One of the things I mentioned in that column was that Curry is such a smart basketball player, and he proved that tonight. One thing I have noticed from Steph is that he has the ability to adjust to what the defense is giving him. Against Duke, he wasn't getting looks from three because Duke was switching everything. So he started attacking the basket.

As I said, Curry didn't score until there were 11:00 left in the first half, but went for 29 points in the last 31 minutes of the game. He only hit one three, which means that the rest of his 26 points and 9 field goals came from inside the arc. He did hit a couple step backs, but for the most part all of his damage was done by getting into the lane and finishing at the rim (he even threw down a pretty nice dunk in traffic).

I know, I am talking way too much about Steph. But the reason is that Duke is such a fundamental, well-balanced team that nothing ever stands out in their wins. For example, if UNC blows a team out, you most likely are going to say "they ran the other team off the court". If UConn does, you are probably going to talk about how "they dominated the paint with blocks and dunks".

With Duke, you say "they played great team basketball"?

I guess you have too, because that is basically what it was. When it is all said and done, they did a really good job on Curry defensively without letting anyone else on the Wildcas get it going (Lovedale did have 15, 7, and 4 blocks). Duke also stopped turning the ball over. I remember they showed a stat about 12 minutes in that said Davidson had 11 turnovers and Duke had 10, but Duke only turned it over twice the rest of the game, which just happened to be the same time that they started to bust the game open.

Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer both played outstanding last night. Singler finished with 21 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists while Scheyer led Duke with 22 points.

Gonzaga 89, Tennessee 79 OT: So the 'Zags sweep the season series with Tennessee, but it didn't look like it early. After Gonzaga jumped out to a 6-0 lead, Cameron Tatum caught fire, scoring all of Tennessee's points in a 14-1 run. They eventually would push the lead to 31-16 before Mark Few made a change.

Few switched the 'Zags into a zone defense, which really just threw off Tennessee. The Vols do a lot of things well on a basketball court. They have some excellent athletes, they play tough defense (especially in the full court), they play hard, they go after loose balls. But one thing they don't do well is pass and move without the ball. Their offense is predicated on being able to isolate against your man, break him down off the dribble, and either score or find the open man. Against a zone, you lose the ability to isolate your man. So when the 'Zags went into a zone, the Vols looked lost offensively. There was almost no ball movement and no cutting.

It wasn't just the zone, however. Gonzaga finally started knocking down some jump shots. Matt Bouldin had one and Steven Gray two more as Gonzaga eventually closed the gap to 40-33 at the half.

Tennessee scored the first five of the second half, but Gonzaga pretty much controlled the game the rest of the way as they outscored Tennessee by 22. It wasn't just the play of one person either. Everyone on the court stepped up and started playing better, which brought back reminders of why I picked the 'Zags to reach the Final Four.

Three guys I want to make note of on Gonzaga. First, Jeremy Pargo finally stopped turning the ball over in the second half after turning it over five times in about the first 15 minutes. He actually played very well in the second half, as he was finding the open man and running the team. Perhaps the best thing he did was defer to Matt Bouldin, who played the best game I have ever seen him play. He finished with 26 points and 5 assists, but he made so many big shots and big plays down the stretch. Austin Daye finally woke up from his christmas hibernation. Daye, who had struggled in Gonzaga's last three games, looked to be having another sub par game in the first half with just one field goal, but he really found his stroke in the second half. Daye ended up with 20 points, 8 boards, and went 3-4 from deep. Heytvelt added 15 and 12.

For Tennessee, other than Tatum, Wayne Chism was their lone bright spot. He finished the game with 15, 19 boards, 3 assists, and 2 blocks. Tennessee seemingly dodged a bullet as well when Tyler Smith hurt his knee in OT but eventually returned.

This win was huge for Gonzaga, because now they can claim a sweep over the second best team in the SEC (Razorbacks bandwagon - jump on it) and look to be in much better position to hold on to an at-large berth.

The rest of last night's college hoops:

• Louisville 71, South Florida 57: Earl Clark had 22 and 9 boards and Edgar Sosa, coming off of an 18 point/game winning shot performance against Kentucky, had 12 points. Louisville's defense in the second half was just too much for the Bulls to handle (the Bulls subs scored 10 points in the final minute to make the score more respectable).
• Syracuse 85, DePaul 68: Andy Rautins had 17 points to lead the Orange for the fourth consecutive game. During that stretch, he is 25-44 from deep. In total, six players reached double figures for the 'Cuse, including Jonny Flynn's 12 points and 8 dimes.
• Marquette 81, Rutgers 76: Marquette had built up a 57-36 lead, but allowed Rutgers to come all the way back and cut it to 73-71 with 34 seconds left. Jerel McNeal and Lazar Hayward both hit two free throws in the next 10 seconds, however, to push the lead back to 77-71. Wesley Matthews finished with 23 points on 10-10 shooting from the floor.
• Providence 87, Cincinnati 79: Weyinmi Efejuku scored 18 to lead a balanced Friar attack (eight players and at least 8 points). Don't look now, but Providence has won seven of their last eight games and is 3-0 in the Big East.
  
• UNC 108, Charleston 70: Tyler Hansbrough had 24 and 7 to lead the Heels, but they still gave up 41 first half points to Charleston. That "improved defensive pressure", especially in their back court, seems to be a thing of the past.
• Harvard 82, Boston College 70: A bit of a let down from the UNC win? Harvard was up by as much as 16 in this one.
  
• Michigan 72, Indiana 66 OT: Michigan was down by 17 at the half and 20 during the second half, but came back to force overtime. DeShawn Sims, Manny Harris, and Lucas Laval-Perry combined for 49 points in this one. Crazy state of the day: Michigan was 12-40 from three.
• Wisconsin 74, Northwestern 45
  
• George Mason 71, Towson 59
• Northeastern 68, Georgia State 54
• Morgan State 66, Maryland 65: How does this happen? An ACC team, especially one that has won a national title and is trying to keep their legendary coach from being run out of town, should NEVER lose to a school from the MEAC. That said, Todd Bozeman is turning that program around. MSU already had a win over DePaul this year.
  
• Memphis 80, Marshall 57