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Henderson helps Duke crush Southern Illinois

Thu 20th, November 2008

New York, NY (Sports Network) - Gerald Henderson led all scorers with 20 points while Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler added 13 points apiece, as No. 10 Duke shook off a sloppy first half to roll Southern Illinois, 83-58, in semifinal action at the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.

Brian Zoubek did provide some frontcourt help with 10 points and six rebounds for the Blue Devils (4-0), who will meet Michigan in Friday's final at Madison Square Garden. Ironically enough, the championship bout will be a preview of a regularly-scheduled meeting between the two teams on December 6.

"We're really pleased with the win," said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. "(Southern Illinois) plays outstanding defense and so do we, so points were really hard to come by."

Carlton Fay donated 17 points and Kevin Dillard added 10 points for Southern Illinois (2-1), which will get another crack in the Big Apple during the consolation game on Friday.

"We went against a good team and they guarded us," stated Salukis head coach Chris Lowery. "The one thing that they are known for is that they play extremely hard and they guard."

The Blue Devils, without depth in the frontcourt, will live and die with their perimeter game this season. And in the first half, Duke died with 15 turnovers and several missed assignments on the break.

However, in the final 20 minutes, the Duke slash-and-shoot offense put 54 points on the scoreboard, attacking the Salukis with dribble-drive moves and plenty of jumpers from long distance.

After Fay's three-pointer, Duke rattled off nine straight points to take a double-digit edge. Henderson scored the final five points, capped by a pair of free throws for a 41-29 advantage in the second half.

The Salukis whittled the deficit to five points, 48-43, behind a small spurt that ended with Fay's jumper just before the under 12-minute timeout.

The Blue Devils later responded with 11 straight points to create some separation. Six of those points came courtesy of the charity stripe with Nolan Smith's two free throws opening up a 68-49 lead.

Henderson's highlight-worthy slam pushed the edge to 75-51, and the rout was on from there.

Even when Duke was careless with the basketball in the first half, its defense maintained the intensity.

The Salukis led 7-3 and 17-14 after a Nick Evans bank shot from the left block. However, Duke turned up the heat and went on a 9-0 stretch capped by Lance Thomas' lay-in.

The Blue Devils held a 29-23 lead at the half.

Game Notes

Duke controlled the backboards, 39-24...Duke leads the all-time series, 3-1. Southern Illinois' lone victory in the series came in Madison Square Garden during the Salukis' 1967 NIT championship run...Duke made the same number of field goals (12) in the second half as the Salukis, but made (25) a staggering 14 more free throws than Southern Illinois attempted (11)...Southern Illinois made just 25 percent of its shots in the first half and 35.1 percent for the game. By comparison, Duke shot 52.2 percent from the floor in the final 20 minutes and 42.9 percent fro the game.