Duke notes: Paulus to start

DURHAM - Duke senior Greg Paulus will make his second straight start at point guard Wednesday in a 9 p.m. home game against North Carolina, coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday.

Paulus scored 18 points and was praised for by Krzyzewski his leadership Saturday in the Blue Devils’ 78-75 overtime win over Miami. Nolan Smith, a sophomore who started 21 of the first 22 games at point guard, will come off the bench.

“Greg played a great game on Saturday,” Krzyzewski said. “He did that with us as a group going through an adverse time.”

Krzyzewski said Smith still will have a prominent role. Smith said he hasn’t lost confidence despite being held scoreless in seven minutes Saturday.

“They tell me all the time that I need to attack and be stronger, and if I do all those things, things will fall into place,” Smith said.

Singler’s health fine. Forward Kyle Singler leads Duke in scoring and rebounding but has struggled through poor performances the last three games since an illness kept him out of practice about 10 days ago.

After totaling 11 points against Virginia and Clemson, Singler shot 5-for-23 from the field against Miami. But Krzyzewski said Singler’s health is fine.

“It’s certainly not his lack of effort,” Krzyzewski said. “It hasn’t affected other parts of his game. He’s playing like a warrior.”

Scheyer breaks out. Duke guard Jon Scheyer hopes his has broken out of his scoring slump after posting a team-high 22 points against Miami. He had averaged just 9.5 points over the previous eight games and was disappointed that teammate Gerald Henderson had to carry so much of the scoring load.

“It shouldn’t be like that,” Scheyer said. “I want to be right there with him, helping him out.” - Ken Tysiac