PROVIDENCE, R.I.—It looks though the clock has struck midnight on Yale's Cinderella run.
An 18-0 run helped fourth-seeded Duke open up a 48-25 lead on the 12th-seeded Bulldogs halftime Saturday at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Sophomore Grayson Allen leads all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the floor, including four 3-pointers. Freshmen Brandon Ingram and Luke Kennard have contributed 11 points apiece and a combined six rebounds as the Blue Devils used defensive stops to lead to baskets on the other end of the floor.
Ingram and Allen got things going early for the Blue Devils, drained back-to-back threes to open the contest. But the Bulldogs would not allow Duke much breathing room—two quick layups and a jumper were enough to tie it up for Yale, and one more jumper from each side sent the duo into the first media timeout locked up at eight points apiece.
The next few minutes were the Luke Kennard show for the Blue Devils. The freshman from Franklin, Ohio, drained back-to-back triples after the Bulldogs reclaimed the lead. On the trip down the floor between the 3-pointers, the freshman took a charge from Yale's Anthony Dallier to throw the momentum fully into Duke's corner. Behind Kennard's eight points in 2:28, Duke surged to a 23-15 lead with 11:00 minutes left in the half.
Although senior Brandon Sherrod managed to find the basket for a layup for Yale's first points in 2:23 minutes, Allen responded with a quick pul-up jumper followed by a 3-pointer to force Bulldog head coach James Jones to call a timeout facing with an 11-point deficit.
The two sides exchanged misses for the next minute, but Sherrod once again found his way through the paint for a layup to pull Yale back within 10. But the Blue Devils surged ahead, notching eight unanswered points to give Duke the 17-point lead with 5:32 to go.
The Bulldogs' dry spell would not end there. Yale suffered a 5:16 scoring drought while Allen poured in 11 more points to put the Blue Devils up by as many as 27 points with 2:18 to play in the half.
Here are some observations from the first half:
- Ten minutes into the first half, the Blue Devils were shooting 57.1 percent from the field and went 4-of-6 from behind the arc. They finished the period shooting 60.7 percent overall and 9-of-15 from downtown.
- The Bulldogs won the battle on the glass in the first half of the contest, edging Duke 18-14 and 9-1 in offensive rebounds.
- Although the Blue Devils average just 9.9 turnovers per contest, they bested their usual performance, committing just two turnovers in 20 minutes.
- Yale's Makai Mason erupted for a career-high 31 points in the Bulldogs' first round upset of fifth-seeded Baylor, but Duke has held the sophomore guard to just six points so far Saturday.
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