Blistering first half powers Duke men's basketball past Elon, 105-66

The Blue Devils scored 70 points before intermission

<p>Junior Matt Jones scored 17 points, one of six Blue Devils in double-figures as Duke blitzed Elon in the first half.</p>

Junior Matt Jones scored 17 points, one of six Blue Devils in double-figures as Duke blitzed Elon in the first half.

In their Dec. 19 loss against Utah, the Blue Devils scored their 70th point with 12 seconds left in overtime.

Monday night, Duke reached that threshold with one second remaining—in the first half.

It was only the second 70-point half during head coach Mike Krzyzewski's 36-year tenure in Durham, and it sparked the No. 15 Blue Devils to an easy 105-66 victory against Elon at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke cooled down after the break in garbage time, but still shot 51.3 percent from the field in a dazzling display of offensive efficiency. Freshman forward Brandon Ingram led six Blue Devils in double-figures with 26 points and 11 rebounds.

“We had a lot of competitors out there,” said junior guard Matt Jones, who chipped in 17 points. “The last couple days, we’ve really been on beat as a team, and just bringing that to the floor tonight, I felt like we gelled better and we played a lot better. We played as a team tonight, and that was fun.”

The game went back and forth in the opening minutes, with Duke (10-2) holding a 13-12 lead at the first media timeout as both defenses took the first five minutes off. The Blue Devils' man-to-man defense then buckled down for the rest of the half, forcing nine turnovers before the break.

Duke made the Phoenix (9-4) pay for every mistake, as the Blue Devils went on a 46-9 run after the first media timeout. Duke started to open up a lead when a steal by sophomore guard Grayson Allen led to a layup by Ingram and Allen took a steal on the next possession coast to coast for a powerful slam dunk. The game continued to be very fast paced, which led to a lot of transition opportunities and fast break points in the paint and on the perimeter.

“If you want to fast-dance, your partner’s got to fast dance with you, and they fast dance faster than we do….They push it up every time, and then we played pretty good defense, so we got runs,” Krzyzewski said. “We shared the ball, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a lot of points."

Allen had nine days to recover from flu-like symptoms that slowed him down against Utah, and he responded with 17 points while leading the team with five assists.

The Blue Devils heated up from the perimeter for the rest of the half after a spark off the bench from freshman Luke Kennard. The Franklin, Ohio, native knocked down three of his first four attempts from deep, with the last one giving Duke its first 20-point lead at 38-18. Kennard finished the game with 18 points—12 on 3-pointers—after a breakout 24- point outing against the Utes. The Blue Devils made 12-of-29 shots from beyond the arc, including nine in the first half.

“We have a lot of weapons and a lot of guys that can just go off at any time, and for that span of the game, all of us were hitting,” Allen said. “Everyone on the perimeter did a great job of driving with their head up, taking the shots that they had and kicking when it was open, and I think when we click like that and move the ball around like that, it’s very dangerous offensively.”

After getting dominated in the paint by Utah, Duke shrugged off the absence of injured forward Amile Jefferson and controlled the glass Monday. The Blue Devils outrebounded the Phoenix 53-30, and Ingram and graduate student Marshall Plumlee both finished the contest in double-figures on the glass.

“[Rebounding] definitely helped us with the perimeter weapons that we have,” Allen said. “When we can get stops and perimeter rebound the ball and get out on the break, that’s where I think we’re really dangerous,”

Freshman center Chase Jeter delivered his first effective performance after taking on a bigger role without Jefferson, including a strong three-point play midway through the first half. Jeter continues to adjust to the physicality of the college game, but finished with five rebounds to go along with five points on 2-of-3 shooting.

Jefferson watched from the Duke bench, still sidelined by a fractured right foot. The senior captain was out of his hard cast, but remained on crutches with a walking boot. Krzyzewski said Jefferson would be re-evaluated in two weeks.

Duke will have a quick turnaround, closing out nonconference play against Long Beach State Wednesday at 4 p.m.

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