Duke came out firing on all cylinders after a loss to Utah in its last game and leads Elon 70-31 after a nearly flawless first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The No. 15 Blue Devils are shooting 58.1 percent from the field and 9-of-18 on 3-pointers as their offense seemingly scored at will for the entire period. Brandon Ingram, Grayson Allen and Luke Kennard are all in double-figures with 20, 15 and 11 points, respectively.
Both teams consistently found openings in the paint in the first few minutes, setting the tone for an up-tempo first half. Elon sharp-shooter Tanner Samson knocked down an early triple from the corner to tie the score at eight, but Ingram responded with a 3-pointer of his own to open up a slim cushion again for Duke.
That cushion soon got much more comfy.
After five straight misses, the Blue Devils added to their lead by forcing several turnovers and producing fast break opportunities. With 14:08 left in the half, Allen got a steal that led to a layup by Ingram, and the sophomore stole the ball again on the next possession and took it himself for a thunderous breakaway dunk to cap a 7-0 run.
Duke continued pouring in points and finally found its spark on the perimeter in freshman guard Luke Kennard, who made back-to-back treys to help the Blue Devils open up a 28-14 lead and force Elon to use its first timeout.
The timeout did not stop the bleeding for the Phoenix, as Duke went on an extended 31-3 run to build an insurmountable lead. Kennard, Ingram, Allen and junior Matt Jones all made 3-pointers during the run, and the Blue Devils continued to stifle Elon on the defensive end, forcing the Phoenix to take tough shots and commit nine turnovers. Duke had just three giveaways in the first 20 minutes and assisted on 12 of its 25 made field goals.
Here are some observations from the first half:
- The most points in a half in Duke history is 72, just two more than tonight's first-half effort.
- Freshman point guard Derryck Thornton started for the second straight game, as Ingram moved to the power forward position with Amile Jefferson sidelined. Thornton scored the first points of the game on a 3-point play and added a triple to finish the half with six points.
- Kennard showed signs that he was beginning to find his stroke at the end of the Utah game with two important triples, and his shots continued to fall tonight.
- Duke is dominating the Phoenix on the glass with an 28-10 rebounding advantage, and the Blue Devils have 17 second-chance points.
- Elon is just 3-of-9 at the foul line. Duke is a solid 11-of-15 from the charity stripe.
- After struggling in a bigger role in the Blue Devils' first two games without senior forward Amile Jefferson, freshman center Chase Jeter played several minutes and made a strong move to the basket for a 3-point play to highlight an effective half of play.
- As expected, Jefferson was out of his hard cast and in a walking boot when he came out for pregame warmups. The Philadelphia native was still using crutches to walk and could not put any weight on his injured right foot.
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