HALFTIME: Duke 36, Virginia Tech 28

Without big man Marvin Bagley III for the second straight game due to a mild knee sprain, Duke relied predominantly on offense from beyond the arc to hold a lead at halftime.

The Blue Devils are in front of Virginia Tech 36-28 through 20 minutes, led by hot shooting from guards Grayson Allen and Gary Trent Jr. from deep. The duo has combined for 27 points and has knocked down 7-of-13 3-point attempts.

Wendell Carter Jr. stepped up on the boards in the absence of Bagley, picking up six rebounds in the first half. Although he was successful defending the paint and crashing the offensive glass, Carter Jr. had trouble keeping control of the ball, with four turnovers.

The Blue Devils had impressive ball movement in the first half, capitalizing off drives to the basket by Allen and freeing up Trent to hit several triples. But when the Blue Devils misfired on catch-and-shoot opportunities, the Hokies took advantage and kept the game tight. Duke relied heavily on 3-pointers, scoring 24 of its 36 points from deep.

The two ACC foes went basket for basket—the Hokies answered Blue Devil triples made by Trent and Allen with open layups and triples of their own in holes in Duke's zone, but the Blue Devils closed the half on a 7-0 run behind five points from Allen to open up a cushion heading into the locker room.

Here are a few observations from the first half:

• In the first 10 minutes, Duke had eight turnovers, but it had none in the next 10 minutes. 
• Antonio Vrankovic and Jack White came off the bench early, as Vrankovic batted the ball multiple times to give the Blue Devils offensive rebounds and second-chance opportunities. 
• Duke crushed Virginia Tech on the boards, outrebounding the Hokies 21-9.
• Although the Blue Devils are shooting worse than 50 percent in the first half, 18 of their 26 attempts are from 3-point range, and they made eight of them.