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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Duke
Tigers Give No. 3 Duke Big Test Before Falling at Cameron, 69-51
December 17, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2003
Box Score
DURHAM, N.C - On Wednesday night, at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Princeton men's basketball team proved it could play with any team in the country. Unfortunately for the Tigers, the third-ranked Blue Devils probably have the best freshman player in the country.
Freshman Luol Deng scored 15 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, including seven points in a 15-4 Duke run early in the half, and the Tigers scored just one field goal in the final 4:28 after cutting their deficit to nine points as the Blue Devils defeated Princeton, 69-51, before a sellout crowd of 9,314.
The Tigers (4-3) stunned the sellout crowd with a first-half performance not reminiscent of three days earlier on the same floor, when the Blue Devils led visiting Portland 40-12 at the break. Princeton recovered from an early deficit to tie the game at 25 with just under three minutes left in the half and trailed just 31-27 at halftime. The Tigers then cut the deficit to 34-33 on a Mike Stephens fast-break layup two minutes into the second half before the Blue Devils (7-1) made their decisive run. "I really enjoy watching them play," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "It's five guys out there but they play as one. John [Princeton head coach John Thompson] has done a terrific job with that team."
The story of the night for Princeton was its bench, led by junior Andre Logan, who scored 10 of his season-high 16 points after halftime, and junior Mike Stephens, who scored a career-high 10 points in the paint on a variety of post moves. Logan and Stephens combined to shoot 12 for 20 from the field, but the rest of the Tigers combined to make just 10 of 32 shots.
"I've said from the beginning this year that with our team it's not going to be about who's starting and who isn't," said Thompson. "Every guy we put out there is capable of doing what Andre and Mike did tonight. It's not a surprise to me or to our players."
Duke, which won its 32nd consecutive game at Cameron, the fifth-longest such streak in ACC. history, also got 17 points from J.J. Redick and 15 points from Daniel Ewing in addition to the 18 from Deng. Duke forced 20 Princeton turnovers, but the Tigers forced the Blue Devils into 15 turnovers of their own.
The Tigers, who were playing their highest-ranked opponent since a game at No. 2 North Carolina six seasons ago, shot just 2 for 18 from three-point range for the game, including 0 for 12 from beyond the arc in the second half.
Princeton fell behind 21-11 after a Ewing three-pointer with 8:38 to go in the first half but then scored 14 of the next 18 points to tie the game. Stephens started the run with a left-handed hook shot, and Will Venable and Ed Persia then made three-point shots later in the half to pull the Tigers within 25-23. After Logan scored for Princeton with 25 seconds left in the half to make the score 29-27 Duke, Redick scored on a baseline jumper with under three seconds left to give Duke a four-point halftime lead.
Duke led just 44-37 with 12:51 left in the game after Judson Wallace's hook shot for Princeton, but Redick then connected on a right-wing three-pointer and Deng had a dunk that gave the Blue Devils a double-digit lead. Princeton would cut their deficit to as few as eight points with under six minutes left on a Scott Greenman layup, but Deng then had a steal and three-point shot to put Duke back ahead by 11 with 5:24 left.
Wallace had seven points and six rebounds for Princeton, while Max Schafer had two assists and three steals in 14 minutes off the bench. Chris Duhon had a game-high five assists for Duke, which won its fourth straight game.