HALFTIME: Duke 37, Notre Dame 35

No. 7 Duke opens its ACC schedule with a tough road test against Notre Dame in South Bend, and the level of competition has not disappointed. 2014 did not treat Jabari Parker well at the outset, as the freshman phenom went scoreless for nearly the first 14 minutes of the half, missing his first four shots and two from the free throw line. Notre Dame was propelled by a well balanced offensive attack.

Observations:

• Parker ended the half with just five points on 2-of-8 shooting.
• Porous interior defense hurt Duke early on, as the first 12 points came from inside the paint.
• Garrick Sherman feasted against the Blue Devils, ending the half with eight points and six rebounds.
• With Parker struggling, Rodney Hood and Quinn Cook upped their aggressiveness. The duo combined for 21 points in the half on 8-of-14 shooting. Hood leads all scorers with 13 points.
• Andre Dawkins, after drilling 11 triples at a 64.7 percent clip in his past two games, missed his three 3-point attempts of the half.
• The Blue Devils were mauled on the boards, being out-rebounded 25-17. Amile Jefferson, Quinn Cook and Jabari Parker all have four rebounds for Duke.
• Unlike in past games, Duke's assist numbers were low in the first half. The Blue Devils had just five assists on 14 field goals.
• Duke struggled mightily from the field, shooting a paltry 14-for-34 from the field.