Ever since Amile Jefferson went down with a fractured right foot, Duke has counted on at least one player to break out for a big scoring night.
There was no one dominant player Thursday, but that still spelled trouble for Florida State. The Blue Devils wrapped up their 80-65 victory against the Seminoles with five players in double-figures for the first time since Marshall Plumlee exploded for 21 points against Virginia Tech Jan. 9.
The graduate student scored 13 to complement his 10 rebounds for the squad’s only double-double Thursday, Brandon Ingram put up 16 despite 5-of-14 shooting and junior Matt Jones shot 3-of-7 from beyond the arc for nine of his 11 points. Luke Kennard was the lone Blue Devil guard to shoot better than 50 percent from the field with five field goals on nine attempts, but Duke always seemed to get the timely buckets it needed to keep Florida State at bay and shot 15-of-20 from the free-throw line.
Freshman Derryck Thornton nearly joined his teammates with a 10-point game, but fouled out with 2:43 left to play just three points short of giving the Blue Devils their first game with six players in double-digits this season.
“We just fought a lot tonight. There was a lot of fatigue, but we got a good win,” Thornton said. “We are such a great offensive team because we have so many weapons. Grayson [Allen] is such a great scorer and Matt knocks down his shot consistently, and I get in the mix too. “
Freshman Chase Jeter was in on the action as well with his relief minutes for Plumlee, providing a much-needed spark for Duke as the Seminoles kept the game within two early in the first half. After Jeter drew a charge on Florida State big man Jarquez Smith and contributed three defensive rebounds, a dunk and a free throw, the Blue Devils had extended their lead to 23-16.
Jeter had scored eight total points in his first 13 ACC games, but has now matched that in his last two games, following up Saturday's five-point effort in a loss at Louisville with another strong showing at home.
“Chase gives you glimpses,” Jones said. “If he continues to play like that, with the charges and the dunks—that just brings another aspect to the team.”
Five days after his 29-point performance at Louisville when he outscored the next-most productive Blue Devil by 20, Allen was relatively quiet in the second half. The Jacksonville, Fla., native did score Duke’s first eight points of the game to end the team's 0-of-9 scoreless drought, but only added another layup with 3:41 left in the first half—after all six of his teammates who saw action found their rhythm and got on the board. Allen finished with a game-high 18 points.
Duke has received a 20-plus point performance from Allen, Kennard or Ingram in all but four games since Jefferson was sidelined by a fractured right foot in mid-December, and the trio faced even more pressure against the Cardinals, first without Jones due to his sprained ankle and later also without Thornton, who injured his shoulder in the second half of the game.
The injured pair was back in the starting lineup Thursday to give the Blue Devils some breathing room, though, with Jones providing the key triple to give Duke a lead it would not surrender. But the captain did more than score, dishing out five assists—tied with Allen for the team lead—including setting up Plumlee for a dunk on an inbound pass to extend the lead to 79-61.
Jones has been the Blue Devils’ leading scorer twice so far with season—he matched Jefferson’s 16 points against Kentucky Nov. 17 and tallied 17 against Yale Nov. 25—but has registered team-highs in assists or steals in 10 games. The DeSoto, Texas, native did not steal the show Thursday, but his three triples all came at key moments.
Jones' first trey gave the Blue Devils a 15-14 lead with 11:00 left in the first half, and his second served as Duke’s final points heading into the locker room as it built a 43-30 halftime lead. His third 3-pointer was a back-breaker—after Ingram missed the front end of a one-and-one, Plumlee tapped the ball out to Jones, who hit the shot and staved off any hopes of a Florida State comeback after the Seminoles had pulled to within 11.
“I just want to win,” Jones said. “If that boils down to being the ‘glue guy’ then so be it, but when I look in the mirror, I want to look at a winner.”
But the Blue Devils also helped their case for a more balanced offense with better ball control, committing just five turnovers compared to last week’s 18 against Louisville. A game after an uncharacteristic 10 giveaways, Ingram bounced back with just one turnover Thursday.
“We were able to do two things tonight that really helped us,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “One, we did not give up transition baskets.… And the second thing is we didn’t turn the ball over—only five turnovers and 16 assists.”
The Seminoles, on the other hand, shot well—27-of-54 from the field and 5-of-14 from beyond the arc—but could not hold onto the ball. Florida State committed 15 turnovers and allowed the Blue Devils extra opportunities to get all seven players in the rotation on the board.
The ball will continue to find its way into the hands of Allen and Ingram—Duke's primary play-makers—but balanced efforts like Thursday night's showcase will give opponents even more headaches when trying to gameplan for the Blue Devils.
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