MBB: Duke 73, Ohio St. 68 Post-Game Thread

[JBDuke]

Put your post-game thoughts here.

[pfrduke]

What a fight. Absolutely great win. So proud of our boys right now.

[pamtar]

Wow. What a hard-fought, tough, big time win. I thought we were doomed based on OSU"s defense in the first half. Just a big damn win.

[Dukeblue91]

Wow what a game.
I don't remember the last time coach K was that happy and animated.
I'm very proud of the kids.

[Utley]

Love this team! Sulaiman is my player of the game - he provided the spark that got us going in the second half.

One thing that won't get noted in the box score was my change to my 2010 final four t-shirt at halftime.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

Wow. What a hard-fought, tuff, big time win. I thought we were doomed based on OSU"s defense in the first half. Just a big damn win.

That says it all.

A Man's win in a Man's game tonight.

[FerryFor50]

Awesome win.

After the last few weeks, I think the theme of this year's team is GUTS. Just absolute intestinal fortitude. Nothing going right for you? That's ok. Gut it out. Fight back. Play your game.

This win is by far the best win of the year in my opinion. Beating KY and L'ville was nice, but this was a statement win.

Plus, the team looks so much different this year. They really look like they're enjoying it out there, fighting for each other. Going to be a fun year.

[NSDukeFan]

What a great second half performance after Ohio State stoned Duke in the first half. Mason was POY material throughout the game, Ryan did a great job on Thomas and hit those huge shots in the second half after he and Mason kept the team in the game in the first half and then Rasheed withUn his aggressive play in the second half leading up to Quinn Cook (the Closer) to finish it off. I was also happy that I got Amile and Alex sightings, and Josh with a couple of nice hoops. What a great game against another very solid team. Wow!

[BlueDevilBrowns]

Wow what a game.
I don't remember the last time coach K was that happy and animated.
I'm very proud of the kids.

I'd say the WF home game in 09 maybe.

[SupaDave]

Letting Mason talk to the press? Huge. Someone is gunning for player of the year...

[MCFinARL]

Must have been a heck of half time talk! Love the toughness from everybody, especially love the close-to-floor-slapping expressions from Cook and Sulaimon and the plays to match.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Yeah, we talked about it before the game. We started doing it at half time.

[chaosmage]

So proud. They looked so dead for a half, and to see the younger players come out and play in the second half was amazing.

Why did Matta take Craft off of Cook, I know he fouled out eventually, but was he in trouble and sitting?

Was wonderful to see K out there side hugging the coaches and thumping around - Who says he's going to retire?? :-)

Go DUKE!! Can we take a break for a bit? It's felt like March this week!!!

[Billy Dat]

We showed a lot of guts and fight dusting off that weak first half by coming out tough in the second. POY effort from Mason. Kelly played really tough with foul trouble, played great defense on Thomas, and made lots of big buckets when we finally knotted the score. Sheed's scoring and Sheed and Cook's attacking in the second half were huge. Thornton's defensive stop with 20 seconds left was epic, I don't care whose leg it went off. We finally got tough on the boards, and after choking a bunch of key FTs, Quinn took us home. Great to win like that with Curry so marginalized by injury - no one needs rest more than him. I loved the shot of the coaches essentially chest bumping after the game, those were some hyper aggressive bro hugs. What a start to the season, we keep the streak alive at 97, and Alex Murphy got off the bench!

[superdave]

Quinn Cook is definitely the emotional leader of this team. You can see his toughness, and how he connects with his teammates and Cameron. This was a growing game for him. Against Craft he had to endure overtly physical play, get guys involved who couldnt turn corners or get open looks on their own. Cook led.

He has a way to go though. He left some free throws on the table in the final minute. He let Craft get by him too often and according to Musberger "pounded the ball into the court" too much. But he'll look back on those things and correct them.

I'm enjoying watching Quinn grow into a leader. That's as pleasant as anything you'll see all year.

[CLW]

AMAZING 2nd half effort and AMAZING to survive that opening stretch of games undefeated is quite the feat.

Sheed stepped up in the 2nd half to give us some scoring from the perimeter.

Mason is a BEAST this year and has 1st team all-america and NPOY written all over him if he keeps this up.

The DEFENSE and REBOUNDING was MUCH better in the 2nd half.

However, that final air ball free throw by Mason probably pissed off a TON of people that bet on Duke tonight at it was a 5.5 spread.

[CDu]

Heart. Just too much heart. We looked lethargic in the first half, thoroughly out-efforted by OSU. Not so in the second half.

Mason Plumlee is unbelievable. That stat line is absolutely silly.

Rasheed Sulaimon, what a monster second half after struggling in the first.

Quinn Cook showed (again) the PG skills that we missed last year in the second half. He looked timid against Craft in the first half, but Cook just owned Craft in the second half. His playmaking and defense were a huge part of our comeback.

It was nice to see Kelly hit a couple of huge threes, and he continues to be a sneaky shotblocker on defense.

Nice to see the team able to win even with a very tough night for Curry.

But man, what a great effort in the second half. Complete domination. The team defense was pretty good throughout (save for the rebounding deficiencies in the first 25 minutes), and the offense finally showed up in the second half. The effort that Kelly and Plumlee put in keeping Thomas from getting open was really impressive. We were simply not going to let him beat us.

I am VERY impressed that we've survived this stretch undefeated. We've now played arguably our toughest opponents until the NCAA tournament, as the ACC is pretty down this year. We just can't have a letdown now. Time to build off a very impressive start to the season.

[Billy Dat]

However, that final air ball free throw by Mason probably pissed off a TON of people that bet on Duke tonight at it was a 5.5 spread.

BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! That is classic. Put it on the list with Duhon's meaningless 35 foot 3 at the end of the Final Four loss to UConn.

[BlueDevilBrowns]

Thinking long-term, now that we have 3 top-5 wins under our belt, if we take care of business in the ACC(i.e. winning reg. season and/or tournament) we are a LOCK for a #1 seed.


HUGE WIN tonight!

[DukieInBrasil]

Most impressive win of the year, showed so much moxy coming back from down at the half, and looking really out of whack. Sulaimon really revved it up in the second half, as did Cook. Mason was such a stud the whole game. That fast-break dunk on the assist from Cook was spectacular!!!