The weather was the only thing that was cold at Cameron Indoor Stadium Friday night.
In its first game in 10 days, No. 7 Duke (11-1) used a stellar shooting performance to put away Western Michigan (5-8) early enroute to a 110-70 win. Tyler Thornton, Quinn Cook and Josh Hairston each set career highs in points for the Blue Devils, who shot a blistering 54 percent from the field and 52 percent from beyond the 3-point arc.
Seth Curry and Austin Rivers led Duke with 22 and 20 points, respectively, while Miles Plumlee added 15 rebounds off the bench.
Duke took a 28-point lead into the locker room, thanks largely to an aggressive Western Michigan defense that put the Blue Devils in the bonus just six minutes into the game. Duke came out of the break sloppily though, and head coach Mike Krzyzewski called a timeout just 40 seconds into the half after a Ryan Kelly turnover and poor rebounding.
Curry quickly quashed any thoughts of a Bronco comeback after the timeout, making back-to-back jumpers off assists from Thornton. After a Rivers 3-pointer, Curry made back-to-back 3-pointers of his own, extending the Blue Devil lead to 37.
The insurmountable lead allowed Krzyzewski to experiment with different lineups in the second half, leading to extended playing time for backups like Cook, Hairston and Gbinije. All 10 of Duke’s scholarship players played more than 15 minutes, and all scored.
Hairston scored 13 points in 18 minutes and grabbed four offensive rebounds while shooting 7-for-9 from the free throw line. Cook, meanwhile, showed an ability to penetrate the lane and defenders away from his teammates, leading to 16 points and eight assists in 23 minutes.
The Blue Devils have two more nonconference tune-ups next week before opening ACC play against Georgia Tech Jan. 7.
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