Kansas City, Mo. – Duke had one big half from the field, another from the line – and a big game from DeMarcus Nelson.
Together, they put the ninth-ranked Blue Devils in the championship game of the CBE Classic tournament.
Nelson scored a career-high 23 points, and the Blue Devils shot 74 percent from the floor in the first half of Monday night’s 71-56 semifinal victory over Air Force.
“Their efficient offense the first 15 minutes decided the basketball game,” Air Force coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “We gave Duke a lot of easy baskets. We were a lot more disciplined offensively in the second half.”
Duke freshman Lance Thomas added 15 points. Jon Scheyer, another freshman, finished with 12 for the Blue Devils (4-0), who will play No. 13 Marquette in tonight’s title game after the Golden Eagles beat Texas Tech 87-72 in the other semifinal.
Air Force (4-1) will play Bob Knight’s Red Raiders tonight for third place.
Duke shot 17-for-23 from the field in the first half, but the Blue Devils didn’t make a shot after guard Greg Paulus’ 3-pointer with 5:45 remaining in the game gave them a 59-47 lead.
Duke finished the game at 61 percent (25-for-41), including a 7-for-13 night from 3-point range. Air Force, the nation’s scoring defense leader last season at 54.7 points per game, held its first four opponents this season to an average of 35 percent shooting.
“They played well,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We played well. We were fortunate we won. They are going to make some noise this year, no question about it.”
The Blue Devils led 38-24 at halftime but didn’t score for almost three minutes to start the second half.
The Falcons twice closed the gap to seven points, the last time on Dan Nwaelele’s basket with eight minutes left that cut the deficit to 54-47, but went scoreless for nearly five minutes after that.
Air Force’s Jacob Burtschi missed a layup that would have made it a 54-49 game with 7:20 left, and Nelson made a layup on Duke’s next possession.
Paulus followed with his 3- pointer, closing out the Blue Devils’ scoring from the field and pushing the margin back to 12 points.
The Falcons didn’t trim their deficit to less than 10 again.
“It was a great pass, and I flat- out missed it,” Burtschi said. “That was a confidence-killer.”
Burtschi and Nick Welch led Air Force with 12 points each.
Duke didn’t shoot a free throw in the first half but was 14-for-17 from the line in the second half.
AIR FORCE (4-1)
Burtschi 5-13 0-1 12, Nwaelele 4-6 2-2 10, Welch 6-8 0-1 12, McCraw 2-6 3-3 9, Anderson 1-4 6-6 8, Henke 2-2 0-0 5, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Frye 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-41 11-13 56.
DUKE (4-0)
McRoberts 4-7 1-2 9, Thomas 7-10 1-2 15, Paulus 3-6 0-0 8, Nelson 7-10 6-7 23, Scheyer 3-7 4-4 12, Pocius 0-0 0-0 0, McClure 0-0 2-2 2, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Zoubek 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 25-41 14-17 71.
Halftime – Duke 38-24. 3-point goals – Air Force 5-21 (McCraw 2-5, Burtschi 2-7, Henke 1-1, Johnson 0-1, Welch 0-2, Nwaelele 0-2, Anderson 0-3), Duke 7-13 (Nelson 3-5, Paulus 2-3, Scheyer 2-5). Fouled out – McCraw. Rebounds – Air Force 10 (Burtschi 3), Duke 30 (McRoberts 8). Assists – Air Force 12 (Welch 4), Duke 14 (McRoberts 6, Paulus 6). Total fouls – Air Force 19, Duke 15. A – N/A.
