Okafor's big night powers Duke basketball past Elon

It was not the prettiest effort, but the Blue Devils came out of their 12-day break with another win.

Freshman center Jahlil Okafor posted 25 points and 20 rebounds on his birthday—the first 20-20 game by a Duke player since Elton Brand went for 21 points and 21 rebounds against Fresno State Nov. 27, 1998—as the Blue Devils cruised to a 75-62 victory against Elon Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. But the accomplishment, along with the win, were far from satisfactory for Duke.

"Overall, we're not happy with our performance.... This is the worst we've felt all year after a win," Okafor said. "We did win and I'm happy about that. And it's my birthday."

Although the final score would read as if the Blue Devils (9-0) dominated from buzzer to buzzer, the Phoenix gave the No. 2 team in the nation all it could handle. Duke struggled from long range, shooting just 19 percent from beyond the arc, well below its season average of 40 percent. The Blue Devils also turned the ball over 17 compared to their average of 9.4 giveaways per game.

"At times tonight we played great," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We got the ball to Jah really well and he had an amazing game stat-wise. But we go 14-of-27 from the free throw line, 17 turnovers and 3-for-16 from three. Obviously, we're not sharp. That's what happens after exams, after a layoff and after you've played a great game because you're normal. And in order to be really good, you can't be normal."

With the poor long-range shooting and sloppy ball handling, the Phoenix (5-5) were able to hang around before Okafor and junior Amile Jefferson wore them down in the post in the final 10 minutes, as the pair combined for 12 points in four minutes to push the lead to 67-47 with 6:04 remaining.

Despite falling behind 20-6 early, Elon did not quit in the first half, clawing its way back to close the game to 25-15 with 6:45 left in the half and 30-21 with 3:44 remaining. Leading scorer Luke Eddy and Christian Hairston kept the Phoenix in the game, combining for 12 first-half points. A late six-point run spurred by Rasheed Sulaimon's 3-pointer pushed the the Blue Devil lead back to double-digits.

Elon continued to hang around in the second half. Down 43-23, the Phoenix went on a 10-run to cut the lead to 44-33 with 16:40 remaining in the game. But following an impassioned timeout speech from head coach Mike Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils would turn on the heat, outscoring Elon 11-2 through the next three minutes.

But the game would not end on a positive note for Duke. With 1:37 left in the game, Sulaimon and Eddy raced down the court for a loose ball. As the Phoenix guard fell to the floor, Sulaimon shoved his head down, prompting Eddy to jump up and begin jawing with the junior Blue Devil. After the players were separated, Sulaimon was hit with a technical foul.

"How we ended the game, a Duke team should never do that," Krzyzewski said. "I apologize. We should never get a technical foul.... We were real young tonight. That's not how we should end the game."

Although much of the focus will go to Okafor for his Herculean effort in the post, Justise Winslow was another bright spot for the Blue Devils.

After a quiet game against then-No. 2 Wisconsin Dec. 3, Winslow came out firing against the Phoenix. In the first six minutes, he drew a charge and a shooting foul and flushed a cross-court lob from Tyus Jones to bring the crowd to its feet. He followed it up moments later with a steal and two-handed breakaway dunk.

Winslow would add another alley-oop from Jones to his game log to electrify the Blue Devil fans and finish with 12 points. Jefferson would add 13 points and five rebounds of his own. But even with the improved performance, Winslow echoed Krzyzewski in his displeasure with the team's outing.

"We're not really satisfied," Winslow said. "We want to win every game. But with us, when we win we want to be satisfied with how we're winning, and today, we weren't."

Duke will have a quick turnaround, as the Blue Devils will take on defending national champion Connecticut Thursday at 8 p.m. at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J.