Duke’s Coach K on Kentucky: “They were stronger than we were”

But Calipari said he isn’t concerned about Labissiere’s progression. “When he’s not on the court we’re not the same. The game’s happening slower for him”. ESPN’s college basketball analyst Fran Fraschilla chimed in and compared Murray’s game to Brandon Roy, the former Portland Trail Blazers guard who was a multi-time NBA All-Star. They can play without turning it over. “We just have to accept that”. Ingram attempted only six shots, scoring four points.

Skal Labissiere may not look back on his performance against Duke as one of his best of the season. “There aren’t too many guys out there like him”. But so, too, have the Cavaliers, which have struggled all year to make timely stops and money plays.

“We’re not going to win if our perimeter plays like that against a really good team”, Krzyzewski said. “And we gave up”.

Allen was last year’s surprise hero in the Final Four, and just torched Siena and Bryant for 26 and 28 points over the weekend.

Duke is 6-0 against the spread in their last six neutral site games, 6-1 against the spread in their last seven games, and 5-0 against the spread following a win.

Other than the part about the long arms, that description reads like the type of thing Krzyzewski used to say about Tyus Jones last season.

On if he watched Duke previous year … “When you’re put in the position where you’re the man…it’s different. Hopefully, we’ll be able to do that”.

“I don’t want him to be a bully”, Calipari said of Poythress. He has great balance. Even though he is short, he has long arms. And it doesn’t look like he gets exhausted. I admired his presence.

Allen is picking up right where he left off, only now as the centerpiece of a “rebuilding” Duke team that is ranked in the top five and could again be a national title threat.

For a game that remained a double-digit lead in favor of the Kentucky Wildcats for the majority of the second half, this game looked one play away from a shift. “He’s good at drawing fouls”. They did a great job of rotating over.

Maryland was stretched to the finish against Georgetown, which led by seven in the second half before wilting.

“He was great”, Calipari said of Lee. “We did not approach this game any different than we did NJIT”.

No. 11 VILLANOVA 87, NEBRASKA 63: In Villanova, Pennsylvania, Josh Hart scored 19 points, Daniel Ochefu had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and the Wildcats (2-0) rolled in the inaugural Gavitt Tipoff Games, which pits teams from the Big East against Big Ten squads. Kentucky bullied Duke. The Wildcats shut down.

Valentine’s understudy in the comeback was freshman guard Matt McQuaid, who scored six of his nine points on two 3s in the final 3:54 and then he came up with a huge blocked shot of Mason in the final minute.

Sophomore Daniel Hamilton had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the sixth double-double of his career.

“My staff said after, I said ‘What do you think?’ They said we’re deeper than we thought”, Calipari said.

The Wildcats were up 37-31 at halftime and held Duke to 36.4 percent shooting from the field.

9-9 (15:44 1H) – So far, Kentucky’s guards are running circles around Duke, but the Blue Devils’ 7-foot senior Marshall Plumlee is feasting against the Cats’ thin (and not particularly physical) frontline. Kentucky is ranked No. 2, while Duke is ranked fifth in the latest Associated Press poll. The second gave Kentucky a 35-29 lead with 1:33 left in the first half. Tuesday night, Allen missed all nine of his first-half shots and finished the night just two-of-11. But he’s confident UK’s newest big man will slip into that flow eventually. Duke plays in the ACC and not the MAAC or Northeast Conference, so those first two opponents figure to be among the least challenging the Blue Devils play in 2015-16. Duke has just two days to recover from Tuesday’s loss before it travels to NY to take on Virginia Commonwealth in the 2K Classic benefitting Wounded Warrior Project at Madison Square Garden in NY.