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Singler's sizzling start leads to Duke rout

Nov 20, 2007 - 6:06 AM MAUI, Hawaii (Ticker) -- Although he has just started his collegiate career, Kyle Singler already understands how Duke plays at the Maui Invitational.

The freshman scored 17 of his season-high 21 points in the first half as the No. 10 Blue Devils rolled to an 83-61 victory over Princeton in the first round of the early-season tournament.

Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson both scored 12 points for Duke (3-0), which improved to 10-0 in the Hawaiian tournament. The Blue Devils captured three titles in 1992, 1997 and 2001.

The Blue Devils will face the winner between Illinois and Arizona State in the second round on Tuesday.

The latest success for Duke here proved to be one of the easiest, as the Blue Devils raced out to a 31-4 lead inside the opening 10 minutes behind Singler.

Duke built the big lead with an open court attack, a move coach Mike Krzyewski validated due to Princeton's style of play.

"We were able to dictate tempo and make it a fast pace game," he said. "There is a misconception over the years that they play slow, they attack you. They don't play the clock like a lot of teams, play sloughing defense or zone. They are very precise in their own style."

One of the top freshman recruits in the nation, Singler scored the first eight points for Duke and had 13 points leading up to that aforementioned advantage.

Singler also hit the boards, finishing with 12 rebounds including nine offensive. The Blue Devils finished with a 44-26 advantage on the glass, including 20-3 on the offensive end.

"I wanted to come out very active and found myself attacking the glass, getting a lot of loose balls and getting some garbage points," Singler said.

After missing eight of its first 10 shots, Princeton did start to find its range. However, it trailed, 52-31, at the half.

Top scorer Lincoln Gunn blamed his team's lack of aggressiveness against Duke for his team's slow start.

"Going up against a great program I don't think we were intimated but we were hesitant and let them push us around," Gunn said. "Once we got into the flow we were better but I think it came down to them outrebounding us."

Singler only had two baskets in the second half, including a dunk that made it 64-36 with 4:39 expired.

The 6-8 forward finished 9-of-14 from the field with two 3-pointers.

Gunn was the lone player in double figures for the Tigers (2-1) with 16 points.

Noah Savage and Matt Sargeant both chipped in nine points for Princeton, which finished 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from the field but committed 21 turnovers.

"They know who our shooters are and they were too much for us tonight," Princeton coach Sydney Johnson said.