Duke defeated the Elon Phoenix 86-48 on New Year’s Eve for a nice prelude into tonight’s more important football game.
Andre Dawkins had another outstanding performance scoring 15 points, all on three pointers as he led the Blue Devils in scoring. Duke shot 52.6 percent behind the arc as a team and Dawkins was 5 of 7 as he continued his stellar play of late.
Duke shot 48 percent from the field but only 52 percent from the free throw line an area where they continue to struggle. The Duke defense which has been much better recently, held the Phoenix to 35 percent shooting. Duke has had a dramatic turn around on that end of the floor, and their focus on defense is paying major dividends.
Since the loss to Arizona on Black Friday, Duke’s defense has held their opponents to an average of only 61 points. The offense has been steady as well and they are averaging nearly 83 points per game during that same span.
Jabari Parker recorded another double-double as he scored 12 and had 10 rebounds. Rodney Hood scored 13 ponits, Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon dropped in 11 each as the sophomore appears to have broken out of his slump.
Amile Jefferson added 9 points and 6 rebounds, and the Duke bench got some good minutes and totaled 45 points.
The Phoenix were rattled for most of the game and Duke controlled this one from the start. Lucas Troutman and Ryley Beaumont scored 11 points apiece to lead Elon. The game tempo suited Duke, and no team struggled with foul trouble.
Aside from Duke struggling from the foul line they only out rebounded Elon 40-36, which is a bit of a close margin for such a lopsided game.
Overall Duke played well after their breaks and the teams from here only are more challenging. Duke opens ACC play at Notre Dame on Saturday, and the Irish and former Coach K assistant Mike Brey would like nothing more than to defeat the Blue Devils to open the conference season.
Good Luck to the Blue Devil football team tonight and we will have full coverage from the Georgia Dome tonight.
