COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTES

Duke junior guard Trajan Langdon is known as the Alaskan Assassin, because he was raised in Alaska and he shoots well.

But the Alaskan Assassin hasn’t been hitting his targets lately.

Langdon’s shooting problems in the NCAA tournament continued in the Blue Devils’ 80-67 victory over Syracuse in the South Regional semifinals in St. Petersburg, Fla. Langdon scored seven points, making only two shots in 13 attempts from the field. He missed seven of eight three-point attempts.

“My teammates were getting me good looks, a lot of balls were just going in and out,” said Langdon, the Blue Devils’ second-leading scorer at 14.5 points a game.

“I’m not worried about it, because I was in a good rhythm tonight. That’s what matters when you’re struggling a little.”

He failed to make a field goal--missing seven attempts--in Duke’s opening-round victory over Radford. Langdon is shooting 21.2% from the field (seven of 33) in three tournament games, and 23.5% (four of 17) on three-point shots.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said Langdon is contributing despite his shooting slump.

“We use him as a defensive stopper, and that takes a lot out of him,” Krzyzewski said. “We put him on [Syracuse guard Marius] Janulis, and he only scored three points. To me, that’s playing well.”