HALFTIME: Duke 38, Utah State 27

Luke Kennard's shooting woes appear to be a thing of the past.

The freshman poured in 12 points on an efficient 4-of-5 shooting to lead Duke to a 38-27 lead at halftime against Utah State Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. After struggling with his shot in his first few games, Kennard drilled his first two attempts from downtown against the Aggies, which appeared to give him a boost of confidence for the rest of the half.

Amile Jefferson was aggressive early on for the Blue Devils. The senior picked up Duke's first points of the afternoon by following up a missed Grayson Allen spin move and converted two nice spinning post moves for six fast points heading into the first media timeout and went to the break with 10 points and five rebounds.

Utah State has done a decent job fighting over the top of Duke's screens near the top of the key and preventing the Blue Devil guards from turning the corner. As a result, Duke has often had to work deep into the shot clock to get an open look.

On the other end of the floor, Duke has bottled up the Aggies' top two scorers, senior guard Chris Smith and junior swingman Jalen Moore. The duo finished the half with 13 points on 4-of-10 shooting. Utah State trailed by as many as 15 but trimmed the deficit to 10 late in the half. Duke held for the half's final possession and Kennard drew contact in the lane but could only split the pair.

Matt Jones is scoreless for the Blue Devils in the first half. He's the only Duke player to reach double-figures in each of Duke's first six games.

Here are some observations from the first half:

• Ingram returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench in the Blue Devils' past two contests. He turned in his best effort of the season in Wednesday night's win against Yale.
• Duke opened in full-court man-to-man pressure, and remained in man in the halfcourt. 
• After Kennard converted a lay-up while drawing contact, he was greeted by a fired-up head coach Mike Krzyzewski as the Blue Devils headed to the bench for a media timeout.
• Matt Jones committed two turnovers out of the under-eight TV timeout that led to Utah State baskets in transition. Luke Kennard followed with another turnover, but Allen recovered to draw a charge on Moore, his second personal foul.
• Duke's length has bothered Utah State inside all afternoon. The Aggies' tallest player is listed at 6-foot-9, and the trio of Ingram, Jefferson and graduate student Marshall Plumlee has combined for four blocks.