Like so many who came before them, the Griz couldn't find a way through or around No. 10 Duke's impenetrable defense, falling 78-58 in front of 9,314 hopped-up fans at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils' 278th straight home sellout.
Tobacco Road - originally the title of a novel set in George - is widely considered to be Interstate 40, the asphalt that connects Atlantic Coast Conference members Wake Forest, North Carolina State, North Carolina and Duke, all formidable basketball schools. It's heavy traffic for opposing teams. Duke's win over the Griz was its 63rd straight at home against a nonconference opponent.
The Devils' offense wasn't too shabby, either. Four players reached double figures, led by backcourt mates Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith, who scored 14 apiece. Kyle Singler added 13 and Jon Scheyer had a dozen.
Time and again, the Griz (2-2) had trouble initiating their offense because of the heavy ball pressure and occasional traps.
“We knew that going in and we tried a few different wrinkles that helped alleviate some of that pressure,” Montana coach Wayne Tinkle said. “But, shoot, they're long, they're athletic, they're strong and they play with such a sense of urgency and with such a level of intensity, it's tough. Our guys will learn a lot from that. It's neat that they got to see a team of this caliber firsthand play the way that we're trying to demand they play. We'll take a lot from it.”
Hasquet said the first thing he noticed was the caliber of Duke's athletes.
“We tried to simulate it in practice, but there's no way until that ball is tipped up,” said Hasquet, who moved up another rung on UM's career scoring list to No. 13. “There's no way to simulate their defense - at all.”
Despite the din of the Cameron Crazies, the Griz got out of the blocks fast, leading 13-9 after consecutive baskets by Kyle Sharp, Anthony Johnson and Jack McGillis.
“We told our guys when they huddled up before practice yesterday that the tradition and the banners don't beat you, it's the players, it's their level of intensity, it's their camaraderie,” Tinkle said. “Our guys did a nice job of soaking all that in, but not letting it intimidate them.”
The Blue Devils put together a 22-4 run that gave them a 31-17 lead with 8:01 to play in the half. Smith, a sophomore point guard, scored the final seven points of the burst on a 3-pointer, a driving layup and a slam after he took the ball from McGillis at the other end. The Griz turned the ball over six times to fuel the rally.
“Thirty-one points off turnovers and 16 points on second chances - it's tough,” Tinkle said. “We didn't want them to parade to the free-throw line all day so we tried to play a little bit inside out and they still got to the rim and laid it up on us. Our bigs had to rotate to help, so when they missed - and it didn't seem like they missed much in the first half - that left their big guys free to clean it up and tip it in.”
The Griz trailed 47-28 at intermission, but trimmed the gap to 54-41 with 14:52 to play. Brian Qvale connected on a baby hook, Hasquet made a pair of free throws, Sharp beat the Devils back in transition for an easy layup and Ceylon Elgin-Taylor went coast to coast for another layup to highlight the burst.
But after a Duke timeout, the Devils scored eight straight points to make it 62-41 with 10:32 to play and the Griz never recaptured any momentum.
“I think we did a good job against a team that played really hard against us,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose Blue Devils were playing their third game in four days after capturing the 2K Sports Classic on Friday in New York's Madison Square Garden. “To me, it capped off a great week for us.”
Tinkle said he had no illusions about what his team was up against, but still, did he think his team could pull off the monumental upset?
“When I put my head on the pillow last night,” Tinkle joked, “we cut it to 13 in the second half. ... Now realistically speaking, as proud as I am of the guys, we knew Duke would be a little fatigued coming off this road trip, but we thought if we could get it to single digits, you never know.”
NOTES: Duke played without senior point guard Greg Paulus, who sat out with a bruised forearm. ... The Griz shot a respectable 46 percent from the floor, but were just 6-for-14 from the free-throw line. ... The Devils owned a 42-26 edge in rebounding. ... Duke's only other game against a current Big Sky member was an 89-39 win over Portland State in 1997. ... Duke has now won 193 of its 196 nonconference games at home.
Sports editor Bob Meseroll can be reached at 523-5265 or at sportsdesk@missoulian.com.
MONTANA (58)
Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts
f-Hasquet 30 4-10 4-5 7 3 1 15
f-McGillis 32 4-9 0-0 3 2 2 9
c-Qvale 25 2-3 0-2 4 3 2 4
g-Staudacher 24 0-3 0-0 1 2 1 0
g-Elgin-Taylor 22 2-3 0-2 2 2 3 4
Taylor 11 1-1 0-0 2 0 1 3
Stockton 2 1-1 1-1 0 0 0 3
Johnson 22 4-9 1-2 3 3 2 9
Selvig 10 2-3 0-0 1 1 0 5
Hurley 2 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 0
Banny 5 0-0 0-2 0 0 1 0
Sharp 15 3-7 0-0 3 2 0 6
Totals 200 23-50 6-14 26 18 13 58
DUKE (78)
Mins FG-A FT-A Reb PF A Pts
f-Singler 25 5-9 2-5 5 1 3 13
f-Henderson 23 5-9 4-4 7 1 1 14
c-Zoubek 18 4-8 0-0 7 1 0 8
g-Smith 25 5-10 2-2 1 1 1 14
g-Scheyer 27 4-6 4-6 2 1 0 12
Pocius 11 1-3 2-2 1 2 1 4
Czyz 5 0-3 0-0 4 1 0 0
McClure 11 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0
Williams 24 1-6 1-2 2 2 3 4
Plumlee 14 3-4 0-0 3 0 0 6
Thomas 16 1-5 1-2 8 0 0 3
Johnson 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0
Totals 200 29-64 16-23 42 14 10 78
Halftime score: Duke 47, Montana 28.
3-point goals: UM 6-15 (Hasquet 3-5, McGillis 1-2, Staudacher 0-3, Taylor 1-1, Johnson 0-1, Selvig 1-2, Hurley 0-1), DU 4-15 (Singler 1-4, Henderson 0-2, Smith 2-3, Scheyer 0-1, Pocius 0-2, Williams 1-3).
Turnovers: UM 20 (McGillis 4, Elgin-Taylor 4, Johnson 4), DU 11 (Smith 3).
Blocked shots: UM 3 (Qvale 2), DU 3 (Zoubek 2).
Steals: UM 4 (Selvig 3), DU 14 ( Singler 3, Smith 3, Scheyer 3).
Officials: Karl Hess, Ray Perone, Tony Greene.
Attendance: 9,314.
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