Mason Playing to Strengths as Duke Rolls

DURHAM, N.C. - Mason Plumlee has been doing a great job of playing to his strengths.

Running the floor, crashing the boards and defending the paint are all aspects of the game that come naturally to the younger Plumlee.

"Mason has led with his strengths during this last month, being a rebounder and a runner and a shot-blocker," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's helped us tremendously with that. We just felt that, along the way if you keep playing to your strengths, your scoring will come."

Saturday night he displayed all of them, including the ability to score, netting 16 points in the Blue Devils 76-52 win over N.C. State.

"I thought Mason [Plumlee] did a fabulous job tonight," Krzyzewski said. "[He] just played really well and goes 7-for-8 from the floor; that's a really big boost for us."

The win was the eighth in conference for Duke.

For Mason it is the seventh straight conference game that the 6'10" forward from Warsaw, Ind., was able to recorded double-digit rebounds.

Mason finished with a team-high 12 rebounds, four on the offensive, finishing with his fifth double-double of the season and second in a row. Over the last seven conference games, he is averaging 12.1 rebounds per game.

He also added three blocks, adding to his team-high 41, and two steals on the defensive end.

"[He can't] forget about [his] strengths because he's been one of the really outstanding rebounders in the country and he's doing a heckuva job," Krzyzewski said.

Ten of his 16 points came in the first half as Mason used his size and athletic prowess to get in the open floor and finish the high percentage shot.

"The biggest thing, before the game we talked about running the floor and getting out and running, and I got a couple of easy [baskets] like that," Mason said.

The high-percentage shots then led to Plumlee attempting a few hook shots, a shot he says he and the other big men work on constantly.

He drilled two in the game, making sure to set his feet before releasing a swooping hook over his defender and into the basket.

"It's a shot we work on a lot with Coach [Steve Wojciechowski]," Plumlee said. "It's a strong shot. They're always talking about, 'Let's take strong shots.' They aren't going to get on you for missing, but if you're fading away or not taking a strong shot, they'll get on you. It fell for me tonight so it felt good."

His consistent play on the boards and the defensive end has not gone unnoticed by his teammates.

"He's been playing really well for us," senior Kyle Singler said. "The last couple of games, he's had to go up against some really good post players, and I think that's raised his competitiveness and just his game. When you're going up against [Jordan] Williams from Maryland and [Tracy] Smith, I think that helps him get into a different mode. If he can keep that going, it'll be good for our team."

"I thought I had a good offensive game against Maryland too, maybe not the same numbers, but [tonight] I just tried to keep that momentum going and just attack the basket," Mason, who finished that game with 12 points and 11 rebounds, said.

Plumlee raised his team-high shooting percentage to .570 for the season as he and the rest of the Blue Devils are looking forward to playing North Carolina are Wednesday, Feb. 9.

"We're thinking about them now," Mason said. "We'll go over the feedback [from this game], but then it's on to Carolina."