LAHAINA, Hawaii—After 11 hours of travel Friday, the Blue Devils landed safely in Maui. Duke’s perimeter shooting, however, has yet to come back down to Earth.
Playing San Diego State, their most physical opponent of the season so far, the top-ranked Blue Devils dominated from the perimeter, draining 10 triples as they cruised to a 90-64 victory against the Aztecs at the Lahaina Civic Center Monday.
Unable to penetrate against a lengthy San Diego State squad, with potential first-round draft pick Jalen McDaniels helping to man the middle, the Blue Devils were forced to beat the Aztecs from the perimeter.
"They clogged the lane. They did a little bit of what Army did to us and tried to not let us penetrate completely to the bucket," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "As long as our guys were ready to shoot, they were ready to shoot and they knocked them down. I thought that was the differential in the first half."
Although this Duke team's weakness is supposed to be its perimeter shooting, the Blue Devils (4-0) silenced any doubters once again with a fiery first half from the field. Duke looked locked in out of the gate, draining five of its first six attempts beyond the arc to open up a 19-6 lead in the first eight minutes of play.
Junior Jack White, who played in front of his father as a Blue Devil for the first time, sparked the 11-0 run for Duke with a back-to-back triples. The 6-foot-8 forward finished with a career-best 12 points and eight rebounds.
"We're going to elevate the role of the role player and the importance of that role player," Krzyzewski said. "Coach [John] Wooden said a long time ago, 'do what you're capable of doing at the highest level and don't let what you don't do that well get in the way'. And it's really simple great advice. The Canadian trip helped Jack find himself in that way."
Freshman R.J. Barrett led the Blue Devils in scoring once again with a 20-point performance on just 5-of-13 shooting from the field. The Mississauga, Ontario, native sparked Duke’s offense from the get-go, converting on his first two 3-point attempts, while leading the Blue Devils comfortably into the locker room 49-32 with 16 first-half points.
Fellow freshmen Cam Reddish and Tre Jones followed Barrett with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Jones had his best offensive outing of the season Monday, logging a career-high scoring total on an efficient 6-of-7 performance from the field after serving as mostly a distributor in the team’s first three games.
San Diego State did, however, find a way to slow down Zion Williamson. The Aztecs (2-1) shut the Spartanburg, S.C., native out on his four shots inside the arc in the first half, but Williamson found a way to recover in the second half, bringing his total to 13 points, while adding a powerful windmill dunk in transition to his already-lengthy highlight reel.
"You don't know what to think. It's crazy," Reddish said about Williamson's latest slam. "He's different and it's really fun to watch."
Foul trouble was an issue for Duke throughout the contest, but the Blue Devils did not let that get in their way. Duke picked up 14 first-half fouls as Williamson, Marques Bolden, Antonio Vrankovic, Javin DeLaurier and Reddish were all called for multiple whistles before the break.
But those fouls were not a factor down the stretch—the Blue Devils' 17-point halftime advantage allowed head coach Mike Krzyzewski to turn to his bench late in the game as Duke stretched its lead to as many as 35 in the second half.
"It's a long game, and we just know that the next guy up is always going to be ready," Jones said of the team's response to foul trouble. "Jack and Javin came off the bench and gave us great minutes for Zion when he was in foul trouble."
On the other side of the ball, San Diego State could not find its rhythm from the field. Duke held the Aztecs to a mere 36.5 percent shooting percentage on the afternoon. Devin Watson led San Diego State in scoring with 15 points, but it was not nearly enough to help the Aztecs match another overwhelming offensive effort from the Blue Devils.
Duke’s victory Monday sets up a must-watch contest with No. 8 Auburn Tuesday at 8 p.m. The Tigers needed overtime to get past Xavier 88-79 Monday afternoon.
"They have more veterans, but Maui puts you in unusual situations. I think overall those situations, if you handle them well get you better. If you don't handle them well, you lose. But you learn why you can lose," Krzyzewski said. "So we get to see how our young guys do in that situation against a Top-10 team, a very well coached team."
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Digital Strategy Director for Vol. 115, Michael was previously Sports Editor for Vol. 114 and Assistant Blue Zone Editor for Vol. 113. Michael is a senior majoring in Statistical Science and is interested in data analytics and using data to make insights.