Halftime Report: Duke 44, Fairfield 30

The Blue Devils seemed on their way to another comfortable lead heading into the locker room Saturday, but a late Fairfield run has kept the Stags within striking distance. No. 4 Duke leads Fairfield 44-30 at the break, led by freshmen Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow, who have combined for 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting.

After Amadou Sidibe dropped in the opening bucket for the Stags, Winslow ignited the scoring for Duke with a personal 7-2 run that created an early 10-4 lead. The Blue Devils would not look back, stretching their lead to 23-10 by the under-12 TV timeout.

The lead would grow to as many as 15, but a mini-spurt from the Stags cut the Duke lead nearly in half. The Blue Devils responded with three straight points from freshman center Jahlil Okafor to stretch the lead back to double-digits. With 4.5 seconds left before halftime, Quinn Cook lobbed a pass to Winslow off of an out-of-bounds play, and the freshman laid it in before the buzzer sounded to send Duke to the locker room ahead by 14.

Here are some observations from the first half:

• Cook entered the game needing just 13 points to reach 1,000 for his career. The senior has seven points in the opening 20 minutes.
• The first eight minutes have been kind to Duke thus far this season. After leaping out to a 20-6 edge against Presbyterian Friday, the Blue Devils started quickly again Saturday, outscoring the Stags 21-8 by the 12-minute mark.
• Okafor did not have the fastest of starts in his second college game, committing three turnovers against just two points in the game's first 11 minutes. But the freshman scored four points in 43 seconds and came on strong at the end of the half with some point-blank opportunities. Okafor finished the half with 13 points and four rebounds.
• Semi Ojeleye launched three corner treys in his time on the court, connecting on his first attempt. The sophomore was 1-of-6 from downtown in Friday's win.
• The Gilbert brothers—sophomore Marcus and redshirt sophomore Malcolm—have been Fairfield's go-to offensive weapons in the first half. They've combined for 12 points thus far, as Marcus Gilbert has used a smooth pump-fake to knock down a pair of triples.
• Duke's defense has been pesky once again, creating a pair of five-second violations and forcing the Stags to burn a timeout. Overall, the Blue Devils have forced eight Fairfield turnovers, but the Stags are shooting 44.8 percent from the field to stay close.