Skip To Main Content

Cornell University Athletics

Shonn Miller
Robert Crawford
Shonn Miller completed an alley oop and led Cornell with 12 points in a 88-47 loss to Duke on Wednesday night.

No. 1 Duke Pulls Away From Men's Basketball in Second Half

12/19/2012 9:33:00 PM

Box Score DURHAM, N.C. – The Big Red had a tall task on Wednesday night, facing the No. 1 Duke Blue Devils in their home court.
 
Though Cornell hung tight for most of the first half, Duke used a 21-0 run in the middle of the contest to pull away and eventually claimed an 88-47 victory at Cameron Indoor Arena.
 
The Big Red (4-7), playing the No. 1 team in the country for the fourth time in school history, was unable to keep pace in the second half as Duke (10-0) remained undefeated by outscoring Cornell 47-17 in the last 20 minutes. The Big Red remains winless against top-ranked foes and 0-5 all-time against Duke.
 
Shonn Miller was Cornell's leader in points and rebounds for the third consecutive night, getting 12 points and adding six rebounds. Miles Asafo-Adjei added eight points and three assists, while Johnathan Gray also had three assists.
 
“Cornell didn't waver from the way they play, and the way they play will end up being very successful for them in the Ivy League,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They're more athletic, they're trying to get more athletic … and they pushed the ball on us. I didn't think we were ready defensively, and they were good.”
 
Coming off a 66-55 loss at Vanderbilt that saw the team hit just five of 28 attempted three-pointers, the Big Red shot very well in the first half and ended the period with a shooting percentage of 54.2.
 
The Big Red was clearly not intimidated by the hostile Cameron Indoor crowd in the early going as Miller rocked the rim on consecutive possessions with dunks. The second – an alley oop – was created by a beauty of a pass by Asafo-Adjei. At the first media timeout, Miller had six points, Gray had four and Cornell was ahead 10-8.
 
Duke picked up the pace after that, taking a 17-12 lead close to the second timeout. Devin Cherry made a free throw to cut the lead to 17-13, and then Duke accidentally knocked in the rebound of the missed second free throw to make it a 17-15 game.
 
The Big Red stayed tight with the Blue Devils for most of the half, keeping the Duke advantage under double digits until a layup with nine seconds left in the period put Duke ahead 41-30. That was the halftime margin, with Miller leading the way for Cornell with 10 points. Miller was 5 of 7 from the field in the half, while Gray was a perfect 2 for 2.

“Our defense in the first half was pretty good and we got some rebounds," Cornell coach Bill Courtney said. "They only had one offensive rebound at the half. When we get rebounds we are pretty good in transition and I think that helped us. Once they are able to get their defense back set, it is very difficult to score against them.”
 
The Big Red was hurt greatly by 15 turnovers in the first 20 minutes that resulted directly in 20 Blue Devils points. Duke's Mason Plumlee, a 6-foot-10 senior, was initially held at bay. But at halftime he was 5 of 5 from the field and had 10 points as one of three Blue Devils in double figures.
 
Once the second half began, Duke began to pull away. The Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run in the first four minutes of the half and extended that run all the way to 17 consecutive points in the half before Cornell scored again. What was a 37-30 game late in the first half became 58-30 before the Big Red put in a basketball – an Errick Peck jumper from the left side – with 13:30 remaining in the game.
 
Plumlee finshed the contest shooting 8 for 8 from the field and added nine rebounds. Three Duke Players had at least 16 points, and Duke ended the game with 35 points off 26 Cornell turnovers.
 
Fifteen players on the Big Red roster saw playing time against the Blue Devils including four players who did not see time at Vanderbilt on Monday: Dave LaMore, Holt Harmon, Peter McMillan and Ned Tomic.
 
The Big Red will continue its five-game road trip at Boston University on Saturday with tip-off set for 1 p.m.
Print Friendly Version