The stage was set for an electric atmosphere.
The BankUnited Center was sold out, with 7,972 in attendance. The Hurricanes’ student section was full a half-hour early. NBA stars LeBron James and Kobe Bryant were in courtside seats right after the opening tip.
But they would not see a repeat of last year, when Miami blew out top-ranked Duke by 27 points.
Instead, everyone got another reminder: This is not last year.
The Hurricanes are deep in rebuilding mode, and the 18th-ranked Blue Devils, though a lesser version of their usual selves, were still plenty talented enough to pick up a 67-46 victory.
Led by super freshman Jabari Parker, who had a game-high 17 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, Duke (15-4, 4-2 ACC) outmuscled UM in the middle and hit shots from the outside. The Blue Devils took command of the game with an 18-4 run that began late in the first half. Miami (10-8, 2-4), however, was tentative from the start.
“I’m a little bit — no, I’m a lot — surprised about the way we played tonight,” UM coach Jim Larranaga said.
“We were like deer in headlights with all the attention this game got. We had a lot of NBA players here, great crowd, and instead of that igniting us, I think we froze in that environment.”
The antithesis of that was Parker, a potential No. 1 draft pick should he decide to leave school early. He was uncontainable on the glass, drawing reactions from his future NBA colleagues after several man-sized plays.
It was his rebounding work that hurt UM most; Duke outrebounded the Canes 42-28, held a 15-9 advantage on the offensive boards and a 22-7 edge on second-chance points.
“We really had a lot of trouble rebounding,” said Donnavan Kirk, the only Cane (11 points) to score in double figures. “That bit us in the butt.”
UM’s 46-point output stands as the third-fewest points it has scored in an ACC game. The Hurricanes’ record low for points in an ACC game is 44, set in a five-point loss to Syracuse on Jan. 4. They challenged that until the end, when Garrius Adams hit a jumper with 1:39 left to tie the mark.
Kirk, who had 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting, hit double figures with 6:26 left in the game. Center Tonye Jekiri had eight points and nine rebounds, while leading scorer Rion Brown hit a lone bucket in the second half.
Freshman point guard Manu Lecomte was hesistant to create against Duke’s press, committing six of Miami’s 11 turnovers and scoring four points. “He won’t get any sleep tonight,” Larranaga said.
Miami has scored fewer than 50 points in four of 18 games. Before this season, UM hadn’t had a campaign with more than one 50 points-or-fewer game since 1994-95.
The Hurricanes’ zone defense was hurt by Duke’s prowess on the boards, but UM held its opponent to fewer than 70 points for the 12th game in a row. Entering the game, Duke had scored more than 70 in 15 of its 18 games.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was complimentary of Miami’s defense and Larranaga’s coaching — “I think they can beat anybody in our league,” he said — but expressed relief he wasn’t facing the same lineup as last year.
“I didn’t see (Shane) Larkin and (Kenny) Kadji and those guys,” he said.
In addition to LeBron and Kobe, the Heat’s Dwyane Wade, James Jones and Shane Battier — and several of Kobe’s Lakers teammates — later showed up to watch the Parker show.
“He’s a long way from dominating,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s in a process of getting better.”
The latter also applies to the Hurricanes, but in a much different sense.
“It’s really a matter of effort,” Larranaga said. “We’ve got to play harder. We’ve got to be more competitive.”
