There's a reason why Duke is the top-ranked team in the land.
With an explosive second-half effort and lockdown defense, No. 1 Duke (10-0) put Cornell (4-7) away quickly. The Blue Devils did it in balanced fashion too with Mason Plumlee, Seth Curry and 'Sheed all in double figures, to go along with Quinn Cook's 12 assists at the point guard position.
Here's your postgame breakdown:
Revisiting three things to watch:
- Marshall Plumlee's debut: In his first action as a Duke Blue Devil, Plumlee only played sparingly in the first half. The redshirt freshman center grabbed one rebounded and recorded one blocked shot. Plumlee, however, did not play in the second half due to a foot injury.
- A hot start and strong defensive outing: Duke did not get off to a particularly hot start in the first half, but as the game wore on the Blue Devils overwhelmed Cornell. Duke's disruptive ball pressure was problematic for the Big Red all night long. The Blue Devils created 25 turnovers, and they did not allow Cornell to score until the 13:33 mark in the second half.
- More burn for the bench: By the 17:00 mark in the second half, the game was out of hand, which enabled Duke to give its reserves some valuable minutes. Amile Jefferson and Alex Murphy played well off the bench. The two combined for 15 points and seven rebounds.
Three key plays:
- 16:39, second half: The blowout was on, but Rasheed Sulaimon put the exclamation point on it for Duke. The freshman guard jumped a passing lane, stole the ball and finished with an emphatic two-handed dunk.
- 10:14, second half: It was an encouraging night for redshirt freshman Alex Murphy. The 6-foot-8 wing is improving with time. He registered quality minutes tonight, which started with him nailing a trey from the perimeter in the second half.
- 2:44, second half: Senior forward Todd Zafirovski doesn't get many opportunities to get on the floor. The former walk-on made the most of his minutes in a blowout win for Duke, which was highlighted by his hook shot off the bank in the closing minutes of the game.
Three key stats:
- 25 TO's for Cornell: Duke's defensive pressure was stellar all night. The Blue Devil backcourt made life difficult for the Big Red guards by playing tight defense. Turning Cornell over allowed for Duke to get out on the break and convert on numerous easy baskets to put the game away quickly in the first few minutes of the second half.
- 17 second-half points for Cornell: After giving up some easy buckets in the first half, Duke's defense was suffocating pretty much the entire second half. Cornell also shot a meager 1-of-11 from 3-point range.
- 12 assists for Quinn Cook: Cook played brilliantly, conducting the offense efficiently and finding open teammates. The sophomore lead guard has really come into his own this season, and he is one of the biggest reason why Duke is playing so selflessly and has an unbeaten record.
And the Duke game ball goes to … Seth Curry. The veteran shooting guard was perfect from downtown at 3-for-3 on the night. His utilization of ball and head fakes allowed him to get open looks, and he made Cornell pay. The senior looked very comfortable on the floor tonight, and he shot the ball very well, going 7-of-10 from the field to finish with a game-high 20 points.
And the Cornell game ball goes to ... Shonn Miller. As the only player in double figures, Miller was virtually the only player that could generate consistent offense for the big red.
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