HALFTIME: Duke 58, Evansville 18

Against one of the slowest-paced teams in the nation, Duke has had no trouble opening up a comfortable lead in its first game in 11 days.

The Blue Devils used two separate 12-0 runs to take full control through 20 minutes at Cameron Indoor Stadium, leading Evansville 58-18. Duke is shooting 67.7 percent from the field and 8-of-11 from 3-point range, and Wendell Carter Jr. has led the way with 17 points. Grayson Allen and Marvin Bagley III have joined him in double figures.

After both teams went back and forth for the first three minutes, point guard Trevon Duval started the Blue Devils' decisive run with a short jumper, and Allen and Carter knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to quickly open up a 10-point lead.

Duke pressured the Purple Aces on the inbounds pass after every made basket, forcing several turnovers and taking Evansville—which ranks 342nd out of 351 teams in the country in pace of play—out of its comfort zone. The Purple Aces finished the half with 15 giveaways that led to 27 Blue Devil points.

Bagley snuck behind the Evansville defense and finished an alley-oop pass from Duval with 11:43 left to elicit the loudest roars of the night so far, and Duke scored 30 points in the first 10 minutes.

After the Purple Aces scored to trim the deficit to 12 with about 11 minutes left, they went scoreless for more than five minutes as Duke went on a second prolonged 12-0 run.

Here are a few observations from the first half:

• Evansville has not allowed 80 points in a game yet this season. Duke is on pace to clear that mark comfortably.
• Jordan Goldwire, Marques Bolden, Alex O'Connell and even Justin Robinson all saw early playing time off the bench with Javin DeLaurier and Jordan Tucker sitting out due to injuries.
• The Purple Aces hold the best 3-point percentage in the nation, converting at a clip of nearly 50 percent this season, but are just 1-of-7 from deep so far tonight.
• The Blue Devils have shared the ball well offensively, with 18 assists on their 21 made baskets.