Duke Blue Devils blow past Kansas State Wildcats
The Duke Blue Devils made sure there were no questions about who was the number one team in the nation with a convincing 82-68 victory over the number four ranked Kansas State Wildcats in the final of
the CBE Classic.
The Blue Devils have had a tremendous start to the season and have held the number one ranking since the preseason poll. The match-up against the Wildcats was the most difficult game for the Blue Devils
early in the 2010-11 campaign.
The Wildcats have been playing strong basketball to start the year and have been able to earn a fourth overall ranking because of it. However, they ran into a highly skilled Duke side and were simply out-matched.
The Blue Devils played an all around team game, but received another tremendous performance from freshman guard Kyle Irving, who has been impressive throughout the early portion of the schedule. Irving
led the club in scoring against the Wildcats and was responsible for shutting down Kansas State star Jacob Pullen, something the youngster says was a team effort.
“First of all it wasn’t a single job on my part. It was a team effort,” Irving told reporters after the game. “When we were going through our walkthrough we had to really lock in on him. We had an awareness
on him the whole entire game. I think we did a great job on the defensive end, which gave us offensive momentum.”
The Blue Devils pulled out to an early lead, going on a 9-0 run and never looked back. Duke held a 36-29 lead at halftime, which they quickly extended en route to a 12 point win.
Making the performance even more impressive was the fact that the CBE Classic final was essentially a home game for the Wildcats, as it was held only two hours away from Kansas State’s campus.
“Our guys battled and fought hard,” said Kansas State head coach Frank Martin. “We lined up and played a heck of a basketball team today. We are a very young team and we will use this as a great learning
experience...It did not work out today but that is what happened and we’ll be better next time.”
The Wildcats got a strong game from forward Curtis Kelly off the bench, as the youngster was able to register 19 points and six rebounds.
The victory marks the fourth straight season the Blue Devils have won an in-season competition.
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