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Princeton University Athletics
Princeton University
Duke
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Duke Uses Strong First 10 Minutes To Run By Tigers, 83-61, In EA Sports Maui Invitational First Round
November 20, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Princeton outscored Duke 57-52 in the final 30 minutes of its EA Sports Maui Invitational first-round game Monday afternoon at the Lahaina Civic Center. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for the Tigers to recover from Duke's intense spurt in the game's first 10 minutes.
The 10th-ranked Blue Devils went on a 31-2 run after Princeton scored the first basket, getting 13 of the 31 points from freshman Kyle Singler, and Duke went on to a 83-61 win over the Tigers in front of a sellout crowd of 2,500 that featured a large Princeton contingent.
Singler had game highs of 21 points and 12 rebounds for Duke (3-0), which shot 56% in the first half on the way to a 52-31 halftime lead. Lincoln Gunn led the Tigers (2-1) with 16 points, and Princeton shot 7 for 14 from three-point range for the game, including 4 for 7 in the second half.
"It's an honor to be included in this field and play against a program like Duke and a coach like Coach K," said Princeton head coach Sydney Johnson. "They play very hard, as do we, but they just played very well at the beginning of the game."
"I don't think we were intimidated by them but I do think we didn't respond as well as we could to their pressure," said Gunn. "It's great to be able to play against quality competition and we'll learn a lot from this game."
After falling behind 31-4, Princeton outscored the Blue Devils 27-22 the rest of the first half. Gunn made both of his three-point shots in the first half and had 11 first-half points for Princeton, which shot a season-high 47% from the field (22 for 47). Duke's advantage was just 31-30 in the second half.
Senior guard Matt Sargeant had seven of his nine points after halftime for the Tigers, who also got a 3-for-5 performance from three-point range from senior forward Noah Savage. Junior Alex Okafor also provided a big presence for Princeton in 11 minutes in the second half, scoring eight points, including his first career three-pointer, and blocking two shots, including a stuff of Duke's DaMarcus Nelson near the rim.
Zach Finley had eight points and three rebounds for Princeton but was limited in the second half due to foul trouble.
Gerald Henderson added 12 points and six rebounds for Duke, while Jon Scheyer came off the bench to score 10 points.
Princeton and Duke were playing for the third time in five seasons and the fourth time in the past eight years. The previous three games came at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Tigers will Arizona State Tuesday morning in Maui. That game begins at 4 p.m. ET and will be televised by ESPNU with Dave Barnett and Jimmy Dykes providing play-by-play and color commentary. The Sun Devils fell to Illinois, 77-54, in the final game of the day Monday.