news-record.com

DURHAM — Jon Scheyer was an emergency point guard last season, a guy moved to a foreign position out of desperation after others had failed.

Now the senior is not only Duke's leading scorer, but he leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio, the most coveted of all pure point guard statistics.

Scheyer improved both those numbers Tuesday night, finishing with 22 points, seven assists and no turnovers to lead the No. 7 Blue Devils to an 84-63 victory over road-weary Long Beach State at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

In 11 games this season, Scheyer has 66 assists and just 10 turnovers. He's built that 6.6-to-1 ratio while logging a team-high 35 ½ minutes and averaging 18.5 points per game.

"Jon understands the value of the ball, and he understands his talents," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He doesn't try to be somebody else. He's not a quick guy, but he's not a slow guy either. He's not a great jumper, but he's a decent jumper. He's not a great ball-handler, but he's not going to give it up either. He does his stuff to its highest level, which is what every player should learn to do. He knows what he's good at, and he becomes excellent at those things."

Scheyer was great against Long Beach State (6-7), shooting 6-for-12 from 3-point range and leading a defensive effort that set the tone early.

Nolan Smith added 19 points, seven assists and no turnovers for Duke (10-1), which took command with an 18-2 scoring run and led by at least 11 points the rest of the way.

Kyle Singler, who finished with 14 points, hit two 3-pointers during the early run when Duke's defense held The Beach to 1-for-10 shooting and no second shots.

"You've always got to start with defense," Smith said. "The offense will come, but it all starts with defense. That sets the tone."

Brian Zoubek, Duke's 7-foot senior center, scored 10 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Lance Thomas also chipped in 10 points.

"Zoub's really been a force inside," Smith said. "People go in there, and he's been altering shots and blocking shots. He's rebounding the ball tremendously. He's playing so athletically. A lot of people wouldn't say that about Zoub, but he is playing like an athlete out there and it really helps our team."

Zoubek shot 5-for-5 from the floor and had three of Duke's seven blocked shots in the first half. Freshman Mason Plumlee finished with four and the Blue Devils had 10.

"We played pretty well defensively tonight," Zoubek said. "We were talking really well, and one of the major things we did was protect the basket. We lost some shooters sometimes (in the second half), but we really protected the basket. If we can continue to do that and not lose those shooters, then we'll be really good."

NOTES: With 1,553 points, Scheyer needs 18 more to pass David Henderson (1983-86) and crack the top 25 on Duke's all-time scoring list. ... Duke is 2-0 all-time against Long Beach State. The Blue Devils won the first game 79-78 in January of 1979 in Raleigh. ... Five of Long Beach State's seven losses this season have come against ranked teams: No. 7 Duke, No. 2 Texas, No. 3 Kentucky, No. 6 West Virginia and No. 24 Clemson. ... The RPI rankings list Long Beach State's strength of schedule as the third-toughest in the nation. The Beach's opponents so far are 98-37 (.726). ... The Beach's T.J. Robinson came in averaging a double-double with 16.7 points and 11.1 rebounds per game. After a quiet first half, he finished with 10 points and nine boards.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

LONG BEACH STATE (6-7) — Phelps 2-8 2-2 6, Robinson 4-12 2-2 10, Anderson 4-9 4-4 14, Ware 2-8 2-2 6, Gilling 3-7 0-0 9, Plater 5-10 0-0 13, Lazdauskas 0-1 0-0 0, King 0-0 0-0 0, Woodard 0-2 0-0 0, Richardson 0-0 0-0 0, Fleming 2-4 1-3 5. Totals 22-61 11-13 63.

DUKE (10-1) — Singler 5-12 1-2 14, Mi.Plumlee 1-3 0-0 2, Thomas 4-8 2-2 10, Smith 7-14 1-4 19, Scheyer 8-18 0-1 22, Ma.Plumlee 0-2 0-0 0, Dawkins 2-3 1-3 7, Kelly 0-3 0-0 0, Davidson 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Zoubek 5-5 0-1 10. Totals 32-68 5-13 84.

Halftime—Duke 45-25.
3-point goals—Long Beach State 8-17 (Plater 3-5, Gilling 3-6, Anderson 2-4, Ware 0-2), Duke 15-26 (Scheyer 6-12, Smith 4-6, Singler 3-5, Dawkins 2-3).
Fouled out—None.
Rebounds—Long Beach State 36 (Robinson 9), Duke 44 (Zoubek 12).
Assists—Long Beach State 17 (Ware 6), Duke 20 (Scheyer, Smith 7).
Total fouls—Long Beach State 16, Duke 14.
A—9,314.