Kennard's big day sparks Duke men's basketball in rout of Utah State

<p>Senior Amile Jefferson used a flurry of post moves to reach double-figures Sunday against Utah State.</p>

Senior Amile Jefferson used a flurry of post moves to reach double-figures Sunday against Utah State.

After Wednesday’s win against Yale, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said that it would take time for each member of his team to develop the desired game-in, game-out consistency.

Against the Bulldogs, it was Brandon Ingram’s turn to be on, but Sunday the stage belonged to Luke Kennard.

Kennard scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting as No. 6 Duke used a monster run to open the second half to rout Utah State 85-52 Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The freshman had help as well in the form of Grayson Allen—who poured in 13 of his 22 points after halftime—and Amile Jefferson, who finished just shy of another double-double for the second straight game.

After shooting 4-of-23 from downtown in his first six games, Kennard drilled his first two triples Sunday and finished the day 4-of-5 from downtown.

“I met with [the coaches] and they said ‘It’ll come.’ As long as I keep doing the dirty work like getting rebounds, playing great defense, bringing energy to the floor, my shot’ll come,” he said. “When you make that first one, you look over at the bench and they’re going crazy, there’s a lot of energy. It gets you more into the game, gets your rhythm and flow going. That really helped me.”

Duke (6-1) scored the first 16 points of the second half as its lead ballooned to 27 points. Allen keyed the surge, scoring the first four points for the Blue Devils and adding a wing 3-pointer after a missed free throw. When he subbed out, Kennard took over, making his first two shots of the second half to push the lead to 28.

Jefferson set the tone early for Duke, taking the ball aggressively to the rim in the first half. The Philadelphia native poured in 10 points in the first half and finished with 13 to go with his nine rebounds. Kennard took control midway through the period, connecting on his first two 3-point attempts and finishing the half with 12 points.

The Franklin, Ohio, native scored eight straight points midway through the first half, including an old-fashioned 3-point play with his off hand that earned him a visit with a fired-up Mike Krzyzewski heading into the under-eight media timeout.

“He hit me on the chest and I was like, ‘Oh, okay,’” Kennard said. “I knew then that that’s the energy I needed to bring to the floor every single game.”

The defensive attention given to Kennard and Jefferson diverted things away from Allen, who remained aggressive and scored nine points in the first half. On a day when Matt Jones’ streak of six consecutive double-digit scoring performances ended, the Blue Devil backcourt was still in cruise control behind the hot shooting of Allen and Kennard.

“[Kennard’s] been working so hard. To see him get going like that was good,” Krzyzewski said. “I especially like Grayson’s reaction to Luke. It’s what I love about my upperclassmen. They could not be happier when a kid does well. I thought it picked Grayson up to see Luke starting to hit.”

It took Utah State 5:08 to score in the second half before Shane Rector finally ended the drought with a step-back jumper. It did not help, though, as Jones drilled a 3-pointer on Duke’s next trip down the floor. The Aggies (4-1) shot just 25 percent from downtown and committed 13 turnovers, lacking the offensive fluidity necessary to stay in the game. Leading scorers Chris Smith and Jalen Moore arrived in Durham averaging a combined 30.1 points per game but managed just 21 points on 21 shots Sunday.

Ingram returned to the starting lineup Sunday after his 15-point outing against Yale but did not make a field goal until 6:33 remaining in the game. The freshman replaced classmate Derryck Thornton, who struggled mightily against the Aggies. The Chatsworth, Calif., native finished 1-of-9 from the field, including a missed dunk on a fast break. After tinkering with the lineup twice last weekend in New York, Duke returned to the starting five that opened the season against Siena Sunday against the Aggies.

“We have eight guys who are going to play that should all consider themselves starters. It all depends on how it’s going and what another team is doing as to who could be in the game,” Krzyzewski said. “We have an unselfish team so if another guy is doing well, they’re okay as long as Duke has more points than the other team. That’s a nice group to coach.”

Duke hosts No. 13 Indiana Wednesday at 9:15 p.m. in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge in the Blue Devils’ final marquee nonconference game.

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