Highlight-reel material it was not.
Though the men's basketball team's first game of the season wasn't pretty, the top-ranked Blue Devils came away with the most important thing-a 98-66 win.
"Not every game is going to be filled with behind-the-back passes, dunks and fancy crossover moves," forward Shane Battier said. "Some games are won in the trenches. That's what tonight was. The physicalness of the game really dominated the tempo."
After a shaky start, Duke settled down and eventually wore down a smaller, less-talented Fairfield team, taking advantage of a school-record 42 free throws.
The Stags were the ones, however, who set the tone right from the start by controlling the opening tip and not backing down against the Blue Devils.
Early on, Fairfield challenged Duke in every facet of the game by scrapping for loose balls, rejecting shots in the lane and tying the Blue Devils up on numerous occasions.
The Stags, coached by former Duke assistant Tim O'Toole, at times looked like a mirror image of Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils. They played tough man-to-man defense and brought a tremendous amount of intensity to the floor.
"Their intensity against us was terrific," Krzyzewski said. "It was the first time that we've met resistance. I think there were times that we played really well tonight. We are learning about ourselves.
"We are a program that, at times, every play is scrutinized. I don't think we played to the level of intensity that we need to, and Fairfield didn't let up the whole time."
The first 10 minutes of the game were somewhat sloppy as the two teams traded baskets and neither one seemed able to find a consistent scorer on offense. Fairfield was content to fire away from the outside, preferring to challenge Duke's perimeter defense rather than attacking inside.
After a three-pointer by center Andy Buzbee, Fairfield found itself leading 16-14 with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half.
Just after that, the wake-up call finally came for the Blue Devils. Keyed by Battier's hustle, the Blue Devils outscored the Stags 15-4 in a three-minute span to reverse the flow of the game.
After that, Duke settled into its offense, as Brand and Trajan Langdon, who had been noticeably quiet for a good part of the game, finally got some scoring opportunities.
"[As a team], we weren't getting touches in the offense," Langdon said. "We were putting up shots with zero touches and one touch."
Once Duke started feeding Brand in the post and getting Langdon his shots, everything else seemed to fall into place. Langdon and Brand scored the Blue Devils' last 15 points of the half and carried Duke to a comfortable 48-27 halftime lead.
In the second half, Duke's steady play from the latter part of the first half carried over as the Blue Devils extended their lead and never let up.
Brand continued to play well offensively and his defensive presence in the middle disrupted the flow of Fairfield's attack.
On separate occasions at the start of the second half, Brand came up with three big rejections that ignited the crowd and got Duke some easy scoring chances in transition.
Brand finished the game with an impressive line: 20 points in 26 minutes on 7-of-7 shooting from the floor. He also grabbed 15 rebounds and came up with two steals.
Brand did, however, struggle from the foul line, only hitting six of his 13 attempts.
"I don't think I played well at all tonight," Brand said, clearly upset over his subpar night at the line. "I missed a lot of free throws. I worked on that in practice. I've actually been shooting them quite well."
The free-throw line was a familiar place for Duke Saturday. The quicker, more athletic Blue Devils were consistently fouled by the undermanned Stags and as a result made 42 free throws on 54 attempts.
That free-throw total eclipsed the previous school record of 40 that Duke set against Davidson in 1953 and New Hampshire in 1983.
Surprisingly, one Blue Devil that didn't struggle from the line on the record-setting night was Chris Burgess. Near the start of the second half, Burgess was fouled as he went up for a dunk and the home crowd became unusually silent as Burgess stepped up to the line.
Using an unorthodox stance, the sophomore calmly knocked down both of his free throws and the crowd cheered wildly. Judging by the response of the Cameron crowd, it may have been the highlight of the night in a game devoid of big plays.
Another bright spot for the Blue Devils was the play of crowd favorite Corey Maggette. In his regular-season college debut, Maggette continued to show his versatility, bringing the ball up the floor on various occasions and scoring on a number of nifty moves.
He finished the night with 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the floor and 7-of-8 shooting from the charity stripe.
After the game, it seemed that the Blue Devils had gained a better understanding of what it means to be the team that everyone is gunning for.
"We realize that just because we are Duke, these teams aren't going to lay down and die for us," said Battier. "Teams are going to come out and give us their best shot. It was a wake-up call from a great Fairfield team."
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