It’s always a tricky situation for a team coming off of a 10-day break to play a conference game.
The good part for the Blue Devils is that they had Virginia Tech at home, which often affords you a level of grace in terms of how sloppy you can be, but after watching several other teams fall at home on Tuesday including Kansas and Syracuse – Duke had to be dialed in. It was clear that the Blue Devils did not have their best stuff in the first half on the offensive end, going 5-19 from 3-point range and turning the ball over 6 times. Luckily for the Blue Devils, Cooper Flagg had his best stuff. Flagg paced the Blue Devils in that first half, going 5-7 from the field, 2-3 from 3-point range for 14 points. Flagg also added 2 assists in the first stanza. Duke went into the half with a 10 point lead at the half (37-27).
The second half saw the Blue Devils play a much better brand of basketball, growing that 10 point lead to as much as 28 during their 51 point second half explosion. The Blue Devils, who shot 5-19 from 3 in the first half, righted the ship in the second, going 6-10 to end up at 38% for the game. Cooper Flagg continued to dominate the game, leading a sextet of double-figure scorers with 24. Flagg was also the leading assist man with 6 dimes for the game, he also added 4 steals and a blocked shot. Junior Tyrese Proctor didn’t have his normal hot 3-point shooting prowess, going just 1-5, but Proctor was aggressive at the rim, finishing with 3 dunks, 13 points and 5 assists. Freshman Kon Knueppel added 13 points for the Blues Devils as well. Isaiah Evans hit on 4-7 from beyond the arc for 12 points.
Duke’s 2 grad transfers Sion James and Mason Gillis both added 10 points for the Blue Devils, with James finishing with a double-double, collecting 11 boards. Duke, once they settled down offensively, cruised in the second half and ran away from the Hokies for an 88-65 victory, their 7th in a row.
The Blue Devils owned the boards with a 35-22 advantage, including doubling up the Hokies in offensive rebounds (10-5) that the Blue Devils cashed in for 17 second chance points to just 3 for the Hokies. The Blue Devils also earned an 18-8 advantage in points off of turnovers. The Blue Devils limited the Hokies to just 2 fast break points while scoring 8 of their own.
Duke moves to 3-0 in the ACC with a date on Saturday in Texas against the SMU Mustangs in what will be their 3rd road game in the ACC.
