HALFTIME: Duke 64, Florida Southern 40

Duke came out hot, but Florida Southern followed suit and made things interesting before the Blue Devils got back to business.

Duke leads the reigning Division II national champion Moccasins 64-40 at the half at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the exhibition opener for both squads. Led by graduate student Marshall Plumlee and junior Matt Jones, the Blue Devils pounced early, taking a 10-0 lead in the first 2:05. But when Duke made its first round of substitutions—removing big men Plumlee and senior Amile Jefferson—the Moccasins used the triple to keep stride. In the offensive showdown, with 5-star recruit Harry Giles in attendance, Duke used a two-handed, backward jam by Brandon Ingram to extend the lead to 42-28 with 5:22 left in the half.

Duke started the game without a true point guard, putting Jones and sophomore Grayson Allen in the backcourt along with Jefferson, Plumlee and Brandon Ingram. Ingram spent some time handling the ball as well, but freshmen Derryck Thornton and Luke Kennard soon entered off the bench, combining for 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting.

Here are some observations from the first half:

• The Moccasins had no answers for Duke in the paint. Graduate student Marshall Plumlee set the tone early with two left-hand hook shots within a few feet from the basket. The Blue Devils also dominated the boards, tallying 25 compared to Florida Southern's 17. Six of those Duke rebounds were on the offensive end of the court.
• Allen has started slow, managing three points on 1-of-3 shooting in 16 minutes of action.
• The Blue Devils forced Florida Southern to shoot the long ball, and Florida Southern made them pay. The Moccasins shot 6-of-17 in the first half from downtown, and caught Duke off-guard in transition for open 3-point looks on multiple occasions.
• The Blue Devils shot 59.0 percent from the field, led by a team-high 13 points from Ingram and 12 by Jones. The DeSoto, Texas, native poured in two of Duke's four first-half three pointers—both in the initial 10-0 spurt.
• The emotions were high in a physical contest as Florida Southern committed 17 personal fouls in the first half. Allen and Florida Southern's Sheldon Zablotny had to be separated with 8:32 left before intermission after jawing at one another. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski took out Allen before play resumed, later inserting the sophomore back into the contest.
• Duke closed the half on a 7-0 run in the last 47 seconds.