box score
audio - coach sydney johnson & lincoln gunn
A 31-4 game-opening Duke run soured Princeton's debut in the EA Sports 2007 Maui Invitational. The Blue Devils coasted to an impressive 83-61 victory behind 21 points and 12 rebounds from freshman forward Kyle Singler. Singler scored Duke's first eight points as the three-time Maui Invitational champions raced by the entrants from the Ivy League.
Princeton's Lincoln Gunn, returning to the Lahaina Civic Center where he had been a ball boy as a child, was an efficient 6-9 from the field and canned three of his four three point shots for a team-high 16 points.
The Tigers did lead at one juncture, 2-0 after center Zach Finley's reverse layup on a feed from fellow sophomore Marcus Schroeder. Finley scored eight points on 3-10 shooting for the Tigers.
Duke tied the score one possession later on a Singler putback of DeMarcus Nelson's missed triple. The Blue Devils destroyed the Tigers on the boards, grabbing 20 second chances and scoring over a quarter of their points on these opportunities.
A second Singler recovery, this of a second DeMarcus Nelson miss, gave Duke the advantage.
The Blue Devils did a fantastic work limiting Princeton's perimeter touches, especially those of Kyle Koncz. The Tiger sharpshooter had just one field goal attempt and no points in 21 minutes of action. "[Duke] did a great job with their scouting report" said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson after the game.
Matt Sargeant's driving layup on 7'2" center Brian Zoubek was Princeton's only bucket over a near-ten minute stretch as the Blue Devils continued to convert second chances and pull away. The Tigers turned the ball over six times and missed eight shots during this span.
Once Princeton settled down and started to be more cautious, the Tigers played markedly better. The second chances continued but the orange and black began to flow more consistently on offense, matching Duke's output.
Sophomore Nick Lake saw his first collegiate minutes with 7:32 to go in the half and the Tigers trailing 40-11 following a Lincoln Gunn three point play. Lake made both free throws after being fouled on a cut by Zoubek and curled in his first field goal as a Tiger with 3:25 left. Lake played 15 minutes off the bench.
Zach Finley scored inside to send both teams into their respective locker rooms with the Tigers down 52-31.
Following the intermission, Duke scored the first six points of the second half. The lead reached 30 midway through the stanza but grew no larger. Princeton closed the gap to 22 on Alex Okafor's drive with 18 ticks on the clock. The junior from San Jose scored eight points, all in the second half, including his first career three point shot - a high release jumper when left unguarded at the top of the key.
With Michael Strittmatter and Pawel Buczak in street clothes for the third straight game and Zach Finley saddled with foul fouls, Okafor played center at times for Princeton down the stretch.
Before heading to Maui, Coach Johnson stressed that he wanted his team to compete during their trip. While Princeton did just that, they did not have the ability to keep the Blue Devils off the glass and out of the scoring column.
Notes:
-Duke grabbed 44 rebounds to Princeton's 26. The Tigers did not score a second chance point in the game.
-Noah Savage responded from a 1-12 start from the field over the first two games, hitting three of his five shots from behind the arc.
-Princeton finished 7-14 from three point range and shot a season-high 46.8% from the field in defeat.
-The Tigers committed 21 turnovers and handed out just nine assists.
-Matt Sargeant was a perfect 4-4 from the field and looks to be gaining confidence with each game as the Tigers' first man off the bench. Sargeant totaled nine on the night, including a slashing lefty drive and a neat backdoor cut right down the center of the paint.
-Freshman Bobby Foley and junior reserve Jason Briggs each got in for the game's final minute.
-Princeton will play Arizona State tomorrow at 4:00 pm ET. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
