Madison delivered a clinic in man-to-man defense and free throw shooting last night and walked over the George Mason Patriots, 77-62, in a nonconference game before 2,230 at George Mason.
GMU did very little right when it counted and had only itself to blame for falling to 3-2. The Patriots, trailing only 29-26 at intermission, used a good pressure defense to force five consecutive Duke turnovers to open the second half. Madison also missed its first three shots of the half.
But GMU managed only two baskets during Madison's lapse and, following Duke Linton Townes' layup, still were behind, 31-30 with 16:23 to play.
"They made that run at us to start the second half," said Madison Coach Lou Campanelli. "They were putting extreme pressure on us. But we finally got back into our offense. That's the best second half we'ye played all season."
The Patriots, who shot a dismal 28 of 64 from the floor and eight of 16 free throws and were outrebounded, 38-24, were still in the game following two Steve Schultz free throws that cut the Madison advantage to 50-48 with 8:50 to play.
GMU then went cold. Over the next 6 1/2 minutes, the Patriots sank only one field goal in addition to missing the front end of one-and-one foul shots three times.
The Dukes, meanwhile, were being awarded free throws every 30 seconds or so and they made the most of them. Steve Steilper, who lead all scorers with 30 points, was the main beneficiary. He sank all 12 of his attempts, all in the second half, to lead the parade of Duke shooters. Jeff Inman was also perfect on 10 tries, six coming within a 2 1/2-minute stretch that widened the Dukes' six-point lead to a more comfortable 69-57 lead with a minute to play.
Madison, outscored 56-44 from the floor, sank 33 of 36 from the line.
"We didn't have a good game from the free throw line in our last game," said Inman, who finished with 14 points and five assists. "So we worked on that all week. We didn't want to get in a run-and-gun game with them when we were leading by three points late in the second half, so we decided to go to our four corners. That has worked pretty good for us all year."
"We just didn't have our good offensive night. We couldn't get the ball to drop," said GMU Coach John Linn. "Once Steilper got his hands on the ball, he was going to score. Once we got behind, we were at their mercy and had to foul."
Led by 5-foot-11 Myron Contee, who gave the Dukes fits with his quick hands and slick passes, GMU matched baskets with Madison in the early going. Andre Gaddy (18 points) threw in four shots and Dave Skaff added six points to help Mason gain its biggest lead of the night, 26-22, with 5:05 left before intermission.
But both the 6-10 Gaddy and Contee, who scored only six points but had 11 assists and six steals, got in foul trouble. Madison, with Steilper scoring four straight baskets on short jumpers, then ran off the final nine points of the half to lead 29-26.
Madison because a little unnerved in the face of GMU's half-court press and lost the ball five times without attempting a shot at the beginning of the second half. GMU failed to capitalize and soon thereafter was treated to a lesson in free throws.
Madison, which already has 20-point wins over GW and VMI, made 22 of 41 shots. Steilper, averaging 26.5 points coming into last night's contest, also led the rebounders with 10. Inman, with 14, and Roger Hughett, who had 10 points, were the only other Duke players in double figures.
Gaddy and Skaff, who finished with 18 points, mainly on 20-footers, were the Patriot offense.