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NEW YORK — Apparently, defense does win championships.
Duke put one of sports’ most enduring clichés to the test Friday night, and both the Blue Devils and the cliché emerged victorious.
The No. 7 Blue Devils hit just 28.4 percent of their shots against No. 13 Connecticut, yet still they earned the NIT Season Tip-Off title with a 68-59 victory at Madison Square Garden.
Duke last won a game in which it shot under 30 percent on Feb. 4, 1950, a 68-53 victory over Navy.
“We gutted that game out,” said Duke senior Lance Thomas, a New Jersey native playing in front of the home folks. “Everybody fought to exhaustion. I was out there cramping up, and guys were tired.
“Laying it on the line like that and winning, there’s no better feeling.”
Thomas, with 11 rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal to go with 11 points, typified how Duke became the first program to claim four preseason NIT championships.
Duke improved to 297-9 under Coach Mike Krzyzewski when holding opponents to less than 40-percent shooting — Connecticut checked in a 37.3 percent. And at 0-of-4, the Huskies became the first Duke opponent since 2005 to finish without a 3-point field goal.
Duke also outrebounded a big-bodied Huskies team 56-43 and pulled down 25 offensive rebounds, including seven for 7-footer Brian Zoubek among his 11.
The Blue Devils certainly needed somebody outside of their big three to step up. Jon Scheyer, named the tournament’s most outstanding player, scored 19 points but hit just 6 of 18 shots. Nolan Smith scored 16 but hit just 5 of 22 shots, and Kyle Singler mustered just six points on 2-of-12 shooting, snapping his streak of double-digit games at 20.
Singler might have missed more shots if not for foul trouble, though he did hit a big shot before fouls benched him. Duke led 29-26 late in the first half when big man Miles Plumlee drew his third foul, then Singler hit a 3-pointer — off an offensive rebound and re-direct from Zoubek — just before being whistled for his third foul at the 4:02 mark.
While Singler sat, Duke’s defense began to stand out. Duke didn’t score another field goal the rest of the half, but the Blue Devils hit five free throws and forced Connecticut into seven turnovers to build the lead to 37-26 before Stanley Robinson scored for the Huskies just before halftime.
“I think that knowing Kyle was out just made us play that much harder and that much more intense,” said Scheyer, who had 35 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds in the two victories in New York. “We knew the other team probably felt like it was their time to get the lead, so we just gathered up real quick when Kyle got three fouls and said, ‘Look, we’ve got to keep this lead. We can’t let it slip with Kyle out.’
“And fortunately we didn’t just keep it; we built it.”
Duke’s offense did spike early in the second half, though it was as related to defense and rebounding as much as anything. Up 39-32, the Blue Devils embarked on a 19-6 run to lead 58-38. Highlights included a follow shot from Zoubek; a 3-pointer from Scheyer off a Zoubek offensive rebound and assist; a dunk follow by Smith; and a 3-pointer from freshman Andre Dawkins — who added 11 points — set up by a Zoubek assist from an awkward angle.
“I thought Thomas and Zoubek were the difference makers,” Krzyzewski said. “On two of Zoubek’s offensive rebounds, we got six points. We didn’t give up a [3-point field goal] today, so when you get two possessions where you get six points, that’s a lot.”
Duke’s defense finished it off. After a three-point play by Dawkins made it 58-38 with 12:21 left, Duke hit just one field goal out of 14 attempts and turned the ball over six times the rest of the way.
But Connecticut, which got 15 points from Jerome Dyson on 6-of-19 shooting, couldn’t generate enough offense to get closer than eight points.
“They out-willed us and did all the things you need to do to win a game,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. “Duke played with a lot of heart and toughness.”
NOTES — Calhoun, who was whistled for a technical foul during Duke’s run to close the first half, combined with Krzyzewski to break an NCAA record. They entered the game with 1,647 victories between them. … Duke travels to Wisconsin on Wednesday as a part of the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge (9:15 p.m., ESPN). The Badgers are coming off a victory over Maryland for third place at the Maui Invitational.
