After thrilling the crowd at Countdown to Craziness, the Blue Devils have been inconsistent in the first 20 minutes of Friday's exhibition against Virginia State despite holding a 42-27 lead heading into halftime.
But the bigger story for Duke has been who has not been on the court.
Already without freshmen Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum, the injury bug continued to plague the Blue Devils against the Trojans as two of Duke's captains spent time in the locker room.
Senior Matt Jones appeared to hit his knee early in the game and did not return for the remainder of the first half. The guard talked to the team's medical staff on the bench for a minute or two before briefly heading to the locker room then returning to the bench.
Junior Grayson Allen suffered an injury of his own on a drive to the basket when he collided with a Virginia State player near the free-throw line. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski was upset with a no-call on the play that left the guard clutching his left shoulder and grimacing in pain. After being tended to on the sidelines, Allen checked out of the game at the 14:00 mark, before returning nearly six minutes later.
The guard's return sparked a Blue Devil squad that was plagued by sloppy play for most of the first half. After Allen hit a 3-pointer, sophomore Luke Kennard forced a steal near midcourt and finished with a layup to push Duke's lead to 31-16 as part of a 13-0 run. Kennard was the leading scorer in the first half for the Blue Devils with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting and 5-of-5 from the free throw line.
Kennard played all 20 minutes in the opening period with Jones out and Allen limited.
Here are some other observations from the first half:
- Allen was at the center of another tense moment in the first half when Virginia State's Matt Murphy set a hard screen on the guard. Allen hit the floor and was visibly frustrated before the officials got between the guard and Murphy. Allen finished the period with nine points on 3-of-5 from the field—each attempt came from beyond the arc.
- Duke played freshmen Javin DeLaurier and Jack White together on the floor for a brief stint with Allen and Jones both out of the game. The two freshmen were not expected to see major minutes this season.
- Freshman Frank Jackson struggled with four first-half turnovers and finished just 1-of-4 from beyond the arc.
- Classmate Marques Bolden was the only freshman to start and impressed, posting seven points and four rebounds in 14 minutes. The DeSoto, Texas, native also had three blocks and committed just one foul.
- The Blue Devils have struggled to contain the Trojans on the offensive glass. Virginia State had 13 offensive rebounds and out rebounded Duke 22-16 in the first half.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.