Duke Blasts Albany 111-70

DeMarcus Nelson has seen No. 1 rankings and ACC Championships during his career at Duke, experience that has made him probably the Blue Devils' most valuable player on a young squad.

And though he's content to let teammates grab the headlines, the senior showed Monday night he still can power the Blue Devils' fast-paced offense.

Nelson had 23 points as #6 Duke turned in a sharp offensive performance to crush Albany 111-70, improving the Blue Devils to 10-0 for the sixth time in eight seasons.

Jon Scheyer added 18 points for the Blue Devils, who shot 60 percent and quickly turned this game into a rout. Duke had five players score in double figures and hit 15 of 26 3's, continuing its strong outside shooting.

The Great Danes (5-5), an NCAA tournament participant last season, fell behind by double figures in the first 6 minutes and trailed by 26 at the half.

It was a solid overall effort before facing #11 Pitt on Thursday night in NYC, and it gave Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski his 785th career victory to move within a game of tying Lefty Driesell for sixth on the all-time list.

"I thought DeMarcus played very, very well," Coach K said. "He's been our most consistent excellent player. It's just that his thing goes below the radar because this freshman did this or this guy's doing that... DeMarcus has been the solid one."

Nelson went 6-for-7 from the field, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range, to go with six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block in 26 minutes. The 23 points were one shy of tying a career-high for the 6-foot-4 swingman.

"I try not to put too much emphasis on scoring even though I can score and I will score," Nelson said. "I just try to go out there and be a player and whatever the play is to make it. And at the end of the game, I think the performance will speak for itself."

The Blue Devils hadn't played since beating Michigan 95-67 on Dec. 8, but they showed little rust from their layoff despite playing without starter Lance Thomas, who sat out with a sprained ankle. Nelson got Duke off and running, hitting a driving shot and a 3 in the first 2 minutes en route to his 16 points in the 1st half.

"He makes so many plays for other guys and gets other guys shots," Scheyer said of the Blue Devils' lone scholarship senior. "When guys don't help on him, he can score and that's what he did tonight."

But Nelson wasn't alone. Eight players scored in the first half while Duke shot 20-for-33 (61%) and went 9-for-14 from behind the arc to build a 57-31 lead. Scheyer scored 10 points in a span of just more than 2 minutes after the break — including consecutive 3's — to give Duke a 78-46 lead with 12:49 left.

The Blue Devils poured it on the rest of the way, cracking the century mark on Nelson's free throw that made it 100-57 with about 6 minutes left.

***Rankings, you know the routine, the heels played another sub-par team and remain on top, with nothing exciting going on besides exams, the top 10 stayed the same..