Stumble It!Blue Devils are Perfect in Maui
Singler wins the MVP with an assist from Nelson
Note that the BDN was one point off each teams actual score in our pre game prediction. Come on, you would probably honk the horn too;)
Hawaii (AP) -- Two things are perfect on Maui: the weather and Duke basketball.
Freshman forward Kyle Singler scored 25 points, including the clinching free throws with 13 seconds to play, and the Blue Devils (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 13 AP) beat Marquette (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 11 AP) 77-73 on Wednesday night to claim their fourth EA Sports Maui Invitational championship.
Duke (5-0) won the title here in 1992, 1997 and 2001. The Blue Devils' first 11 wins came by an average of 18.9 points and nine were by at least 10 points. This one went down to the final seconds.
No other school has won more than two championships in the 24 years of this event.
DeMarcus Nelson added 16 points for the Blue Devils, whose fans were chanting "our house" in the final minute and as the awards were being presented.
The Lahaina Civic Center may not be Cameron Indoor Stadium but Duke has a better winning percentage there.
Lazar Hayward had 14 points for the Golden Eagles (4-1), who were making their first appearance in the tournament.
Marquette beat Duke 73-62 in the championship game of the CBE Classic in Kansas City, Mo., exactly a year ago. It was the Golden Eagles' second straight preconference tournament title as they won the Great Alaska Shootout in 2005.
Singler joined Bobby Hurley, current Duke assistant Steve Wojciechowski and Mike Dunleavy as Blue Devils who have won the MVP at the Maui Invitational.
With their 77-73 win over No. 11/13 Marquette, the No. 13/10 Duke Blue Devils won the 2007 EA Sports Maui Invitational, their fourth win in Maui in as many trips to the island. Duke improves to 5-0 on the season while Marquette falls to 4-1.
The game was a rematch of last season’s CBE Classic championship in which the Golden Eagles defeated Duke 73-62, exactly one year ago on Nov. 21 in Kansas City.
Duke improves to 5-2 all-time against Marquette and the Blue Devils have won three of the last four, all coming under Coach Mike Krzyzewski Duke is now 101-41 against current members of the Big East conference with two more match-ups slated this season with Big East foes (Pittsburgh on Dec. 20 at Madison Square Garden and St. John’s on Feb. 23).
Coach K now has 780 wins as a head coach and is now in sole possession of eighth place in NCAA history, moving out of a tie with Lou Henson. Coach K is third among active coaches.
Duke is now 5-0 for the third time in the last four seasons and for the 15th time in 28 seasons under Coach K. Duke has now surpassed last season’s 4-0 start before its first loss and in 2005-06, Duke matched the school record, starting 17-0.
Duke is now a perfect 12-0 all-time in the Maui Invitational and has captured championships in each of its four trips to the island (1992-93, 1997-98, 2001-02 and 2007-08).
Duke is now 47-9 all-time in major midseason tournaments (Maui Invitational, CBE Classic, Preseason NIT, Great Alaska Shootout, Coaches vs. Cancer and Rainbow Classic).
Duke is now 20-3 all-time on the Hawaiian Islands, with a 12-0 record in Maui, a 7-2 record in the Rainbow Classic and a 1-1 record in the BYU-Hawaii Invitational. Duke now has five tournament titles on the islands, also winning the Rainbow Classic in 1989-90.
Kyle Singler earned tournament MVP honors becoming the fourth Blue Devil to earn Maui Invitational MVP honors. He joins Bobby Hurley (co-MVP in 1992 along with Anfernee Hardaway), Steve Wojciechowski (1997) and Mike Dunleavy (2001) as Blue Devil’s who have won the MVP honor. Singler averaged 18.0 points and 6.7 rebounds in the three games.
Singler scored 25 points, including 7-of-11 from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the line, including the clinching free throws with 13 seconds remaining spanning a Golden Eagle timeout. Singler also hit 3-of-5 from behind the arc and had seven rebounds. The game marks Singler’s second 20-point performance, both in Maui, and fourth game in double figures this season.
DeMarcus Nelson scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds while earned All-Tournament honors for the Blue Devils. He scored 16 for the second straight game and now has four games this season and 47 in his career in double figures.
Nelson now has 905 career points in 95 career games and becomes the 65th player in school history to score 900 or more points.
Lance Thomas scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds while shooting 3-of-5 from the field. It marks Thomas’ first game in double figures this season and fourth of his career.
Duke connected on 26-of-52 from the field for a 50.0 shooting percentage. Duke has now hit 50 percent of its field goals three times in five games this season, including two straight. Duke shot 86-of-172 in the tournament as a team, an even 50.0 percent, and is 157-of-307, 51.1 percent, on the season.
With the win, Duke improves to ...
- 1,823-802 all-time, including 707-202 under Coach K
- 101-16 all-time in November, including 87-10 under Coach K and 38-2 since 1997-98
- 238-46 this decade, more wins than any other team in the NCAA
- 237-239 all-time against ranked teams including 9-6 against the No. 11 ranked team in the AP poll. Under Coach K, Duke is 157-109 against ranked teams. Since 1997-98, Duke is 28-12 against non-conference ranked teams.
- 392-61 vs. non-conference teams under Coach K and 133-38 vs. non-conference teams on a neutral court
- 165-42 outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium since 1997-98, including 92-18 on a neutral court
- 885-226 as a ranked team all-time, including 27-4 all-time as the No. 13 team in the AP poll
- Coach K now has 707 wins at Duke, eighth all-time for most wins at one school and third among active coaches. Don Haskins from UTEP ranks seventh with 719 wins.