bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671
GREENSBORO -- When Lance Thomas drained a jumper with 5:30 left in the first half to give Duke a 12-point lead over Miami, it looked as though the Blue Devils might easily stroll into today's ACC Tournament championship game at the expense of a Hurricanes team that finally hit the wall.
But by the time Duke headed to the locker room for halftime, Coach Mike Krzyzewski may have been ready to hit a wall, his suit jacket and his team's lead nowhere to be found.
Krzyzewski's first technical foul of the season came in the midst of a 17-2 finish to the first half that gave Miami a 35-32 lead at the break. But in the second half, the Blue Devils played with the passion that Krzyzewski wore on his sleeve to come away with a 77-74 victory at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Krzyzewski said he didn't know what drew the technical from referee Roger Ayers -- it appeared that the call may have come as the result of someone in the bench area rather than the head coach -- but it certainly drew the attention of his team.
"I coach like it's my first game at Army every game," said Krzyzewski, whose Blue Devils will face No. 7 seed Georgia Tech for the title today (1 p.m., WRAL). "For those two hours, you should do everything you can to help your team to win. Some of the things aren't good; some of the things are good.
"But you should do them. You've got to do them."
In the second hour of the matinee, Duke junior Kyle Singler did much of Krzyzewski's bidding. Singler, who finished with 27 points, drained two 3-pointers in the first minute of the half to turn Duke's three-point deficit into a three-point lead.
And though the 12th-seeded Hurricanes got back to within a single point before falling behind by as many as 16 and then making it interesting again at the end, the top-seeded Blue Devils never trailed again.
"We had a much better rhythm in the second half," Singler said. "In the first half, we were more stagnant, really not attacking their zone.
"In the second half, we were penetrating and shooting good [3-pointers]. We had a more dynamic offense."
That, and not the technical foul or Miami's remarkable stand to close the first half, was the story of Saturday's game in Krzyzewski's mind, though it provided a heck of a subplot.
Miami freshman Durand Scott, virtually unstoppable on drives to the basket on his way to 21 points on 10-of-15 shooting, answered Thomas' jumper to start the crazy end to the half. The lack of a foul on a Miles Plumlee shot, followed soon by a charge call on Andre Dawkins, raised Krzyzewski's ire, all while the Hurricanes found the range.
Seconds after Nolan Smith was whistled for a travel, the Duke bench got the technical. Reggie Johnson (14 points) hit one of two free throws, then Scott hit another driving shot. Smith was called for palming right after that, ending the day for Krzyzewski's jacket.
Finally, with 4.2 seconds left, Malcolm Grant (17 points) hit a deep 3-pointer to send Miami to halftime with a 35-32 lead.
"Nothing did go right at the end of the first half," said Duke senior Jon Scheyer, who scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half. "We try to put runs like that together at the end of first halves, but clearly they did that to us.
"At halftime, it wasn't about his technical; it was more about us going out and just playing basketball and not worrying about everything else that was going on. That's when we just let go."
Krzyzewski said the Blue Devils began to attack Miami's zone defense rather than merely playing against it, with Singler epitomizing the attitude adjustment.
Miami sustained after Singler's back-to-back 3-pointers, trailing just 43-42 heading into the first media timeout. But the next four minutes decided it, with Duke reeling off 15 unanswered points to leave Miami to play a spirited but ultimately unwinnable game of catch-up.
Three of Scheyer's four field goals highlighted the push, a pair of 3-pointers and a layup off a steal by Smith (12 points). Singler added a 3-pointer and a driving hoop during the onslaught, reminiscent of the one that allowed Duke to overcome a 12-point halftime deficit at Miami a month ago.
"You hope that it does not happen again because you talk about it leading up to the game, but it's just unfortunate we had defensive breakdowns in such a big part of the game," said Miami sophomore Julian Gamble, a Southern High School graduate who had four points and three rebounds. "It is Duke. They are going to put runs together, and basketball is a game of runs."
As a result, Duke's run at a ninth ACC championship in 12 years will reach the final stage.
