Duke tops 'Bama, sets up showdown with Arizona
NEW YORK -- Cameron Indoor Stadium is Duke's home court, but Madison Square Garden continues to serve the Blue Devils very well.
No. 6 Duke received a season-high 27 points from star freshman forward Jabari Parker and 17 points from junior guard Quinn Cook in a 74-64 win over Alabama on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off at the Garden.
The victory was the Blue Devils' 15th in their past 16 games at the Garden. Duke is 28-15 overall, 23-7 under coach Mike Krzyzewski at the "The World's Most Famous Arena."
The Blue Devils (6-1) meet No. 4 Arizona (6-0) in the finals Friday night. Duke is seeking its first NIT Season Tip-Off title since 2009. Arizona claimed the title in 1990, 1995 and 1999.
Forward Nick Jacobs led the Crimson Tide (3-2) with 18 points.
Alabama closed the Duke lead to 46-40 midway through the second half, then Parker took over. He scored eight of the Blue Devils' next 10 points to extend Duke's lead to 56-44 with 7:30 to play.
Parker dropped in 14 points in the second half.
The NIT final matches two of the top freshmen in the country, Parker and Arizona's Aaron Gordon, who has scored in double figures in all six games for the Wildcats this season.
With some East Coast exposure, Gordon has a chance to be mentioned in the same sentence with the other "fab frosh" -- Parker, Kentucky's Julius Randle and Kansas' Andrew Wiggins.
"(Gordon's) first six games for me have been great," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "He's a pleasure to coach, as talented as he is on the floor. "Aaron is not going to wow you with 25 shot attempts.
Gordon, a 6-foot-9 forward from San Jose, Calif., tossed in 10 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the Wildcats' 66-62 win over Drexel in the other semifinal game Wednesday night.
Gordon and Parker both project as NBA first-round picks in next year's draft, should they decide to go "one and done."
Parker's contribution for the Blue Devils was immediate. He already has seven 20-plus point games, only the second time a Duke player accomplished that feat to begin his career.
Parker averages 23 points per game, and he teams with forward Rodney Hood (21.8 ppg) to make up one of the NCAA's highest-scoring duos. The pair's 44.8 points per game ranked fourth in the nation among teammates entering play Wednesday.
Gordon is a more of a low-post threat than Parker, who likes to roam the perimeter. The 6-8, 235-pound Parker has nailed 14 of his 23 3-point attempts (60.9 percent).
Arizona was uncomfortable in its sets during the first half against Drexel (3-2) and was exposed by a quicker Dragons backcourt on defense. The Wildcats committed 10 first-half turnovers, three from Gordon.
Arizona will see more of that speed Friday night in the form of Blue Devils guards Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon, who thrive on run-outs.
However, Duke's defense was exposed in its last two games prior to getting to Madison Square Garden. Vermont shot 64.8 percent from the floor in the Blue Devils' 91-90 win Sunday, and Duke was outrebounded 37-34 in the 83-74 decision over East Carolina on Nov. 19.
Both games were at Duke's Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Through the first six games, Krzyzewski's team ranked 248th in the country in points allowed (75.7), 240th in field-goal percentage allowed (45.2 percent) and 188th in turnovers (11.7 per game).
After the defensive struggle against Vermont, Duke put together its best half to start Wednesday's game against Alabama.
The Blue Devils led 33-22 at the break, forcing the Crimson Tide into 11 turnovers and just nine made shots from the field.
Alabama finished with 17 turnovers.
NOTES: Duke has won 13 straight games in the tournament dating back to 1996 and has won 26 straight games across all regular-season tournaments. ... Duke is 8-1 all-time against Alabama, though the schools' previous meeting was in 1986. ... The Crimson Tide entered play holding opponents to 41.8 percent shooting and 29.3 percent from 3-point range. Duke shot 43.1 percent and made 40 percent of its 3-point attempts (6-for-15).
