CORAL GABLES, Fla.—Looking for a marquee road victory against a traditionally tough opponent, the Blue Devils got off to a shaky start when freshman Marvin Bagley III exited the court early in the game with an apparent wrist or shoulder injury.
But the freshman returned minutes later during the next media timeout and the Blue Devils weathered a hot start from the Hurricanes to stay in the game.
No. 5 Duke leads No. 25 Miami 42-40 after 20 minutes of play at the Watsco Center, after Grayson Allen dove for a steal in the final seconds and Gary Trent Jr. banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The Blue Devils are led by a double-double from freshman Wendell Carter Jr. already with 11 points and 10 boards.
After the early injury, forward Lonnie Walker IV connected on a pair of triples to give the Hurricanes an 8-4 lead. The Blue Devils responded by spreading the court and pushing the pace with freshman Trevon Duval, who finished the half with seven points and three assists.
The Blue Devils went on a 9-0 run fueled by guard Trent to push the lead to as many as seven. Despite Bagley’s slow start from the field, Trent found open space in the Miami defense and ended the half with nine points on 3-of-5 shooting.
But the Hurricanes responded almost immediately with a quick 9-1 run of their own to retake a 24-22 lead. Miami used its aggressive defense to pressure Duke’s ball-handlers and forced nine Blue Devil turnovers in the first half.
After struggling to score early in ACC play, the Hurricanes got much of their offense in transition and outscored Duke 21-2 on fast-break points. Miami took advantage of the Blue Devils’ carelessness on offense and finished a number of possessions with breakaway dunks.
Duval and classmate Carter helped the Blue Devils regain control late in the half as each connected from beyond the arc against a scrambling Miami defense. The duo then linked up for an alley-oop slam coming out of a timeout. As a team, Duke finished the first half 6-of-12 from deep.
Here are some other observations from the half:
- Playing against one of the biggest teams in the nation, the diminutive Chris Lykes has looked comfortable running Miami’s offense. The guard is Miami’s leading scorer at the half with eight points on 3-of-8 shooting.
- Duval’s 3-point stroke continues to improve and the freshman looks much more comfortable on the perimeter in Duke’s most recent games.
- Allen is off to another cold start, with just as many turnovers as points: three.
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