Spokesman-Review
National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Duke 89, Minnesota 71
When: 3:30 PM ET, Thursday, November 22, 2012
Where: Imperial Arena at Atlantis Resort, Nassau
Officials: # Tony Greene, # Steve Oglesby, # Andrew Walton
Attendance: 35111

No. 5 Duke 89, Minnesota 71: Mason Plumlee finished with 20 points and matched a career-high with 17 rebounds as the Blue Devils used a sterling effort from the 3-point line to down the Golden Gophers in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas.

Sharpshooter Seth Curry drilled all three of his attempts beyond the arc en route to a season-high 25 points for Duke (4-0), which shot 8-of-10 from the 3-point line and will face Virginia Commonwealth in Friday's semifinals.

The Blue Devils led wire-to-wire and secured an 11-2 advantage just 5 1/2 minutes into the game. Minnesota (4-1) closed to within two behind eight points from Austin Hollins and Andre Hollins, but a 3-pointer from Ryan Kelly sparked a 12-4 surge over a 2:53 stretch and allowed Duke to grab a double-digit advantage.

The Gophers moved to within 37-33 only seven seconds before intermission, but Quinn Cook drilled a 3-pointer to close the first half and Minnesota could get no closer than eight points the rest of the way after Curry hit another 3-pointer early in the second half.

Rodney Williams Jr. finished with team highs of 16 points and seven rebounds for Minnesota, which will play No. 17 Memphis in the consolation round Friday.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Plumlee recorded his 20th career double-double with 3:30 left in the first half. … Curry extended his streak of draining at least one 3-pointer to 18 games and helped Duke increase its streak to 805 consecutive games. … The Blue Devils have won their last 21 regular-season tournament games and 53 of their last 54 games in November.
Top Game Performances
 
Duke   Minnesota
Seth Curry 25 Scoring Rodney Williams 16
Quinn Cook 4 Assists Andre Hollins 4
Mason Plumlee 17 Rebounds Rodney Williams 7
Mason Plumlee 8 Free Throws Made Maverick Ahanmisi 6
Quinn Cook 5 Steals Maverick Ahanmisi 2
Ryan Kelly 3 Blocks Trevor Mbakwe 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Duke 89 54.5 8-10 21-26 12 32 4 12 15
Minnesota 71 40.0 4-16 19-25 15 35 6 7 15