HALFTIME: Duke 37, Eastern Michigan 27

No. 9 Duke returned to the hardwood from its holiday break for a matinee against Eastern Michigan. Despite Jabari Parker's quick start, the Eagles kept pace with the Blue Devils for nearly the entire first half. Parker was the star for Duke once again, scoring 14 points and adding five rebounds before being relegated to the bench with foul trouble late in the half. Parker shot 6-of-11 in the first half while the rest of the team shot just 5-for-18. Eastern Michigan was slowed on the offense thanks to leading scorer Karrington Ward's inauspicious start—he had just two points in the period.

Observations

• Andre Dawkins, not Rodney Hood, started the game, but Hood was inserted just 1:32 into the game. Hood is dealing with an illness.
• Quinn Cook started the game with back-to-back assists to Jabari Parker for emphatic slams. Parker would go on to score Duke's first eight points of the game.
• Duke struggled from the charity stripe in the first half, shooting just 12-of-19 from the line. Parker was the biggest culprit, making only one of his four attempts from the line.
• Senior J.R. Sims of Eastern Michigan provided an unlikely spark for the Eagles, scoring eight points in the first half. He averages just 1.8 per game.
• Hood finally scored his first points of the game with a follow-up slam off of a Parker miss, but was given a technical foul for hanging on the rim. Karrington Ward missed both of the technical free throws.
• Hood and Cook were not offensive weapons in the first half. Hood shot just 1-of-4 from the field for two points, and Cook missed all four of his shot attempts, not scoring in the period.
• Matt Jones played just the final 13.1 seconds of the first half, coming in for Andre Dawkins for defensive purposes.
• Duke could not get comfortable from the field, shooting just 37.9 percent from the floor. That, however, was better than Eastern Michigan's 33.3 percent.