Duke beats St. Johns 80-71

St. Johns knew they had the ability to win. And they showed their heart throughout the game. But in the end, Duke's firepower with Singler, Smith, and Scheyer overpowered St. Johns. Duke was in control for most of this game. St. Johns was determined to stay undefeated and made a run in the second half. With 10 minutes left in the second half, St. Johns cut it to a 4 point lead for the Blue Devils. But after remembering their loss to Wisconsin, Duke toughed it out and and held. Before the game, Coach K sent a message to Lance Thomas, who was totally ineffective in their loss against Wisconsin, by starting Mason Plumlee instead. Thomas answered by grabbing 8 rebounds and getting 11 points. Scheyer ans Singler played well, but didn't shoot well. Singler went 6-18 and 1-3 from downtown as Scheyer went 4-14 and 2-8 from downtown. Smith on the other hand, came out of his shooting slump and went 5-11 and 2-3 from downtown as he had 16 points. It was nice to see Brian Zoubek have a solid game. He scored 11 points and had 7 rebounds. Mason Plumlee started, but only to send a message to Lance Thomas. Mason only played 7 minutes, as it will take him a while to get more playing time as he is still recovering from his broken wrist. Duke played well against a good St. Johns team. They don't play again until December 15th against Gardner-Webb. After Gardner-Webb, they'll play Gonzaga on the 19th in Madison Square Garden. This will be a good 10 days of practice for Duke as they are starting to progress to the meat of their schedule.