No. 3 Duke is taking care of business against Miami after closing the half on an 18-3 run and leading 47-19 at the break. The Blue Devils have caused the Hurricanes plenty of trouble, generating double-digit points off turnovers as Duke looks to lock up a double-bye in the ACC tournament with a victory.
Player of the half: R.J. Barrett
Alex O'Connell made a good run at stealing these honors from the Blue Devils' star freshman, but Barrett has absolutely stuffed the stat sheet already. Although the Canadian probably won't get another triple-double, Barrett is putting on a show for his godfather, Steve Nash, logging 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, along with a steal. Barrett has also drawn numerous fouls against Miami, including three in the span of just one second.
The streak ends
It was only a matter of time until Jack White broke through. After missing 28 straight triples, the junior drained his first shot of the game, hitting a triple from the corner with 12:36 to play in the half. Cameron Indoor erupted afterwards and it sparked an electric 7-0 Duke run, featuring dunks from Barrett and Marques Bolden, that led to a Hurricane timeout and broke the game open.
A sloppy start for the visitors
Miami didn't do itself any favors in the early minutes, turning the ball over three times in the first four minutes en route to 12 before intermission. The Hurricanes entered Saturday averaging just fewer than 12 giveaways per games, but the Blue Devils continued to wreak havoc for opponents on the defensive end, just as they have all season long—Duke has forced more than 15 turnovers per game.
Getting the bread in the oven
Joey Baker was the second sub off the Blue Devil bench Saturday afternoon, checking into the game within the first seven minutes. He quickly surrendered a layup to Miami's DJ Vasiljevic and subbed out a little more than a minute later. Baker still has yet to score since Coach K pulled his redshirt last Saturday and put him into Duke's game vs. Syracuse.
Heating up from downtown
The Blue Devils started off with a Bolden try from distance—it didn't go down—but things would get better from there. Duke shot a solid 4-of-10 from 3-point land in the opening stanza after starting just 1-for-7 and it's still hovering around the 30 percent mark for the season.
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Twitter: @mpgladstone13
A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak."