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Durham - About two minutes into the second half of Duke's game against Albany, Kyle Singler caught a pass on the right block, turned, and put up a shot that hit the rim and trickled off.

It was a pretty insignificant moment, except that it was the first time all game that the Blue Devils had tried to score in the low post. With starting big man Lance Thomas out with a sprained right ankle, a Duke squad without much inside presence to begin with was even more outside oriented against the Great Danes.

And that was really just fine with the Blue Devils.

Duke continued to show that it perimeter-based attack can be extremely explosive, as the No. 6 Blue Devils made 15 of 26 3-pointers against the Great Danes in a 111-70 rout. It was the fifth straight game in which Duke (10-0) has made at least 10 3-pointers.

"It's a different style of play that we play and I think it's a fun way to play, when we do it the right way," said Blue Devils guard John Scheyer, who three 3- pointers.

It goes against basketball convention, which dictates that the ball goes inside first and then goes back to the outside only if forced that direction by the defense. But conventional lineups usually have someone bigger than, say, Kyle Singler or Taylor King playing center. And conventional lineups don't have players like Singler and King roaming the 3-point line, looking for open shots.

"Our biggest fear is that they weren't going to play Zoubek much," said Albany coach Will Brown, referring to Duke's 7-1 center Brian Zoubek. "We knew would have no answer if they played King and Singler up front."

It's not just the type of players that has helped Duke make over 100 3-pointers this season. It's also the tempo. With a deeper bench this season and multiple ball-handlers, the Blue Devils are looking to push the ball up the floor every time they get the ball. The first option is always taking it to the basket, but option No. 2 is frequently a 3-pointer. Greg Paulus' 3-pointer from the left wing just over four minutes in was the first of numerous Duke 3-pointers that were taken just seconds after the Blue Devils got the ball and well before Albany could establish any semblance of a set defense.

"When you break down against Duke - especially this Duke team - they make you pay," Brown said.

Not that it really helped when Albany did manage to make Duke run its half-court offense. Mike Krzyzewski has always demanded that his teams space the floor well, and this squad is no exception. With the Blue Devils usually putting four 3-point shooters out on the floor at once, opponents are left with a difficult choice. They can sit back and hope that Duke goes cold from outside. Clearly that wasn't an option for the Great Danes. But neither was Plan B - closing out on the Blue Devils' shooters.

"If they play us for a three, we're going to drive the ball and we're going to score," King said.

That's what Duke did much of the second half, when it made "only" six shots from behind the 3-point arc, after nailing nine 3-pointers in the first half.

Of course, the Blue Devils won't always be able to make things look so easy, especially against the team it faces on Thursday, No. 11 Pittsburgh, in Madison Square Garden. Krzyzewski said that Thomas' status is still uncertain for that game. Against a Panthers team with plenty of inside power, that could be a problem.

Unless Duke keeps making 3-pointers at its current rate.

"You hit 15 out of 26 3s, and life is good," Krzyzewski said.



Contact Jim Young at 373-7016 or jyoung@news-record.com