Nelson throws down a dunk as Duke downs Princeton to advance to the semi finals in Maui

Official Box Score Here

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — Freshman forward Kyle Singler had 21 points and 12 rebounds and No. 13 Duke kept its perfect record on Maui intact with an 83-61 victory over Princeton on Monday night in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational.

Duke, which won the title here in 1992, 1997 and 2001, is 10-0 on the island and six of the wins have been by 20 points or more. The Blue Devils had that big a lead against Princeton seven minutes into this game.

Gerald Henderson had 12 points and Jon Scheyer added 10 for the Blue Devils (3-0), who will play the winner of the Arizona State-Illinois game in the semifinals Tuesday.

Lincoln Gunn had 16 points to lead the Tigers (2-1).

Princeton scored the first basket of the game and then it was all Duke.

The Blue Devils went on a 12-0 run after that with Singler scoring all but two of the points.

Princeton got its second field goal and then it really got out of hand in a hurry. Duke went on a 19-0 run that made it 31-4 with 10:20 to play in the half.

The run had a little bit of everything for the highlight reel: a four-point play by Scheyer, a thunderous dunk by Henderson on an alley-oop pass from Nolan Smith and a strip steal by Greg Paulus right after a Duke turnover.

Princeton missed nine of its first 11 shots and committed an uncharacteristic six turnovers as Duke built the 27-point lead.

The Blue Devils twice went up by 30 points in the first half, the second time at 44-14 on a jumper by Scheyer with 6:30 left. The Tigers closed the half with a 7-2 run to make it 52-31.

The Blue Devils shot 56.1 percent in the half (23-for-41) and outrebounded the Tigers 22-11. The closing run allowed Princeton to finish the half shooting 43.5 percent (10-for-23).

The Blue Devils got the lead to 30 once in the second half, 73-43 on a 3-pointer by Taylor King with 10:04 to play.

Duke improved to 17-1 all-time against Princeton.

Duke is 85-10 in November under coach Mike Krzyzewski and 36-2 in the month since 2000.

Game Notes -

With their 83-61 win over Princeton in the 2007 EA Sports Maui Invitational, the No. 13/10 Duke Blue Devils improve to 3-0 on the season.  Duke improves to 16-1 all-time vs. Princeton in a series that dates back to 1935-36.  Duke has won four straight in the series.  Duke is also 46-9 all-time vs. Ivy League schools and have won 20 straight. Duke is now 3-0 for the seventh straight season and the 22nd time in 28 seasons under coach Mike Krzyzewski. Duke improves to a perfect 10-0 in the Maui Invitational after winning championships in each of its previous three meetings (1992-93 season, 1997-98 season, 2001-02 season). Duke is now 45-9 all-time in major midseason tournaments (CBE Classic, Maui Invitational, Preseason NIT, Great Alaska Shootout, Coaches vs. Cancer Invitational, Rainbow Classic). Duke is now 18-3 all-time on the Hawai’ian Islands. Kyle Singler escored 21 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, including nine offensive rebounds.  The nine offensive rebounds is tied for the seventh-most in Duke history and most ever by a Duke freshman.  It marks the most offensive rebounds since Shelden Williams had nine at Florida State on March 1, 2006.  Singler hit 9-of-14 from the field, 2-of-3 from behind the arc while also knocking down his only free throw.  It was Singler’s first 20 point game and his third in double figures in as many games. With Singler’s 21 points, Duke has now had a different 20-point scorer in each of the season’s first three games, marking the seventh time in school history that three different players have scored 20 or more in the season’s first three games.  It first happened in 1955-56 when Ronnie Mayer, Bob Lakata and Joe Belmont accomplished the feat and most recently happened in 2002-03 with Shavlik Randolph, Chris Duhon and J.J. Redick did it. Singler’s 12 rebounds is the second most for a Duke player in the Maui Invitational, behind 14 from Shane Battier against Chaminade on Nov. 24, 1997.  It is also tied for the eighth most by a Duke player in a major midseason tournament. Gerald Henderson scored 12 points, scoring 6-of-8 from the field and added six rebounds for the Blue Devils.  Henderson has scored in double figures in all three games this season and the 10th time in his career. Jon Scheyer scored 10 points for Duke and has reached double figures in all three games this season and in 26 in his career

Princeton is playing better basketball than many expected this season, mainly due to a coaching change which has them playing the style that drives teams crazy.  They will surely take the air out of the ball, so when Duke runs they need to make their shots count.  My feeling is that they will and the defense will force enough turnovers to more than cover the 22 point spread.  BTW, I use the spread as noting more than a barrometer and do not advocate betting -- certainly not on my predictions.  The pick is Duke 81 Princeton 47

Princeton Off vs. Duke Def	Duke Off vs. Princeton Def
62.5 Pts F 58.5 Pts A 39.8 FG% 40.0 FG% 31.0 Reb. 23.5 Reb.	103.5 Pts F 57.5 Pts A 52.2 FG% 40.8 FG% 23.5 Reb. 27.0 Reb.

Joanne McCallie or Coach P as she is affectionately known, won here first regular season game in Cameron Indoor Stadium.  Duke thrashed the youthful UNCG Spartans 84-39 in the home opener.  Duke won it's 75th straight game against a non conference opponent in the process.

"It was a great atmosphere and I loved the crowd," said Coach McCallie when asked her reaction to her first regular season win at home.  She went on to say it felt natural and one thing certainly remained the same as from the Coach G era, that being a win.

 Picture gallery here -slidehow mode works best.

The team waves goodbye to 500 plus fans

For awhile it looked as Duke was going to struggle.  In fact, they had a slender lead until a UNCG timeout.  The score was 17-8 at that time, but when the Devils returned to the floor they never looked back outscoring their opponent 27-8 going into halftime.

Duke woke up late in the half behind two very nice steals and buckets from Brittney Mitch who started the game there.  Depth was developed at the position or the guard spots in general with freshman Jasmine Thomas and Emily Waner seeing action.

The guards were forced into more action fore Duke was missing arguably it's top two players in Abby Waner and Wanisha Smith.  Waner has a high ankle sprain and is day to day as is Smith, but McCallie mentioned Smith might return for the next game versus Purdue in her press conference.

Abby Waner and the Blue Devil players signed autographs for the fans after the game

Duke's swarming defense set a school record of 28 steals in the game.  Duke forced the Spartans into 38 turnovers and just one more point at 39.  Krystal Thomas had her way in the paint tallying 20 points and 10 rebounds.

McCallie stated that the Devils would continue to get the ball to their talented trio of Black, Thomas and Gay who all attended the press conference.  Each player's comments reflected on a tight knit group whose theme of blue collar work this season was obvious.

The Blue Devil Nation will follow the Duke Women's team all season long and I encourage fans to check out the team.  Despite the band returning from South Bend, the atmosphere was quite fun for those who attended.  There was a lot of fun stuff going on for the kids outside and well, it's a lot of bang for the buck.  I highly suggest that you make your own assessment by attending what will be a great home schedule, featuring Rutgers, Tennessee, Maryland and UNC among others.  The official crowd was 5,534.  The team has been highly accessible.  They signed autographs for the fans after the game.

Emily Waner gets the ball inside to Chante Black

Freshman Posts 20 Points, 10 Rebounds In Duke Win   Continue  -More to come on the women's first home win

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The Honolulu Star-Bulletin is naming Duke the "team to beat" in the Maui Invitational.  That comes as no suprise to Blue Devil fans, but it probably does not make Marquette fans happy.