bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671
DURHAM -- After Duke senior center Brian Zoubek helped seal the Blue Devils' victory at Boston College 11 days ago with a key defensive stop on the perimeter, teammate Nolan Smith predicted that Zoubek soon would produce a 15-point, 12-rebound game.
Smith had the right idea, but he had no idea that Zoubek would even exceed his estimate.
Zoubek put up 16 points and a career-high 17 rebounds in just 22 minutes during Saturday's victory over Maryland, giving Miami yet another thing to worry about tonight when the No. 6 Blue Devils visit the Hurricanes (7 p.m., ESPN).
"He's been tremendous this year," Smith said. "The thing that surprised me is the way he moves on the court now. We'll see him on film, and guys will be like, 'Zoubs, you're slow,' just making fun of him.
"But it hasn't been like that this year. He's just moving tremendous. He's getting tip-ins, keeping the ball alive, getting off the floor three or four times in a row to keep the ball alive."
Zoubek's better movement can be attributed to better health, as well as the effort he's put into maintaining that health. It took a long time for Zoubek to get beyond a broken foot he suffered the summer before his sophomore year and that he re-injured midway through the season, sidelining him for nine games.
"Brian has been hurt a lot during his career," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "For over a year, off and on, he was either playing or coming off a broken foot. He's been completely healthy, and he's taken care of himself.
"[Against Maryland], it's obvious to everybody what he did, but really he's had an outstanding year thus far. He knows what we're doing, and he's a very good talker out on the court. He knows where people are supposed to be. He's a very intelligent player."
Zoubek said he also has been smarter about staying in shape, something that certainly showed against Maryland. Zoubek's career-high rebounding total included eight offensive boards, giving him 10 games this season with at least four.
"It's just being consistent, not taking a day off in terms of conditioning," Zoubek said. "I'm just being a senior about it, making sure I don't fall out of shape."
If Zoubek can come close to repeating his performance, the Blue Devils (21-4, 9-2 ACC) should be in good shape heading down the stretch of the regular season. Smith, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer -- who was named ACC player of the week for the third time this season -- rank as the top-scoring trio in the nation, so any boost for Duke's big three from its big men could cause some serious issues for Miami and other upcoming opponents.
"The big three, you're obviously going to be concerned with them, but you're really going to have problems if those other guys -- he or Mason [Plumlee] or Lance Thomas -- have big games against you," Miami coach Frank Haith said. "Zoubek has really improved a great deal from last season. He's really become more of a factor offensively and defensively and rebounding. His size is a factor."
The Hurricanes (17-8, 3-8) started the season 15-1 against a mostly lacking nonconference schedule. Haith's young but talented team has lost seven of nine since but has played better the past couple of weeks, winning both of their home games (Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech) while dropping a trio of close games on the road (Wake Forest, Florida State, Clemson).
"We're coming off a good week in terms of how we played," Haith said. "I'm very encouraged by that."
