THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, November 25, 1995 TAG: 9511250346
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEVE CARLSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ANCHORAGE, ALASKA LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
Mike Krzyzewski was back on the bench, and suddenly Duke looked more like the Blue Devils who went to 11 consecutive NCAA tournaments and seven of 10 Final Fours than a team coming off a 13-19 season.
Duke humbled Old Dominion 75-55 Thanksgiving night in the season opener for both teams in the Great Alaska Shootout. The Blue Devils overpowered ODU inside - where the Monarchs figured to have the edge against Duke's inexperienced frontcourt - and harassed ODU into 23 turnovers, 16 in the first half. It marked a successful return to the sidelines for Krzyzewski, who missed the final 19 games last season with back problems.
``I think the Duke kids really responded well to having their coach back,'' ODU coach Jeff Capel said. ``I had a chance to see them play a few times last year, and they played with a lot more intensity tonight than I saw at any time last year.''
Capel sees Duke plenty because his son, Jeff Capel III, starts at guard for the Blue Devils. On Thanksgiving Day they did not speak to each other until after the game. Before the game, coach Capel went down the sideline to shake hands with Duke's coaches, and stared straight ahead as he walked past his son.
``I know I avoided him and I could tell he avoided me,'' coach Capel said. ``We'd like to maybe have a turkey leg (Friday).''
``I really didn't try to make eye contact with him because that would make it tougher,'' said Duke's Capel, who had 12 points, five assists, four steals, four rebounds and no turnovers in 35 minutes. ``It was already tough enough. I'm glad it's over.''
Duke's defense was too tough for the Monarchs, who shot 35.8 percent. ODU center Odell Hodge, returning to action after a knee injury that sidelined him last year, was held to six points and Joe Bunn had to work furiously for his 13 to go along with 12 rebounds. Both of ODU's starting inside players were 3 for 8 from the field.
They had trouble once they got the ball, but the Monarchs had even more trouble just getting it to them. Duke's tenacious man-to-man forced a slew of turnovers off attempted entry passes to the post, many of which were converted into transition baskets.
``They were doubling down on Joe and Odell pretty hard and we made some bad decisions trying to get it into them,'' said freshman Mike Byers, who started his first game and had ODU team highs of 16 points, 30 minutes played and six turnovers.
ODU led 26-23 with four minutes left in the first half, but turned the ball over on seven of its next eight possessions as Duke went on an 8-0 run to take a 31-26 halftime lead.
``The crucial point was the last five minutes of the first half,'' coach Capel said. ``They were like sharks smelling blood. They seized the opportunity and jumped on us to close the half in great fashion and took control of the game at that point.
``We didn't do a very good job of executing our offense, but you have to give the credit to Duke for that. They took us out of everything we tried to do.''
Duke junior center Greg Newton scored a career-high 18 points and senior forward Tony Moore had 12. The duo combined for 13 of 19 on field goal tries and bottled up ODU's inside game.
``I thought we played excellent defense, especially on the big men,'' Krzyzewski said. ``Coming into the game we were really worried about Hodge and Bunn.''
Duke still led by five a minute into the second half, then went on a 23-6 run over the next 8 1/2 minutes for a 22-point lead with 10:36 to play. ODU could get no closer than 15 the rest of the way as Duke shot 58 percent in the second half.
``In the second half, we kind of broke down a little bit,'' Bunn said. ``Some of the shots that weren't falling for them started to fall, and they got on a run. When they got on a run, we couldn't stop the bleeding.''
Byers and fellow freshman Mark Poag were a combined 7 of 13 from 3-point range, but the rest of the Monarchs were 1 of 7. by CNB