Duke took down the Bowie State Bull Dogs by a score of 116 – 53, and while Duke was short-handed in the backcourt they used every bit of their advantage in the post. The pregame presser with Coach K was the first mention of multiple freshman suspensions. It was announced yesterday that Trevon Duval would miss the game but Coach K informed the media that Jordan Goldwire and Alex O’Connell would also miss the contest for issues related to academics and tardiness.
Duke started Grayson Allen, Gary Trent Jr, Javin DeLaurier, Marvin Bagley and Wendell Carter Jr. that’s a team with an average height of 6’8. Duke had no trouble establishing dominance in this one, scoring from every angle, every position and every possible way. Grayson Allen handled the point guard duties with aplomb scoring 21 points off of 7-11 shooting and dishing 11 assists. The other guard spot was held sown by freshman Gary Trent who scored 22 points and knocked down 5 from distance in the game. Duke didn’t need many 3’s with the size advantage they had over the Bull Dogs and they went to work in the post with their bigs.
The game was effectively over by the middle of the first half and by the halftime buzzer Duke had amassed a 69-27 lead with Trent, Bolden and Grayson Allen scoring 14, 9 and 14 respectively. The second half saw more of the same from the Blue Devils, who continued to feed the bigs and the bigs continued to respond.
Marvin Bailey was the leading scorer for the Devils with 25 points, scoring primarily in the paint. Bagley also pulled down 10 boards scoring off of missed shots, hooks, and monster dunks. Wendell Carter also had a double double for the Devils with 23 and 14 boards. In his best outing in the pre-season Carter showed versatility in his moves, he showed great hands and touch around the rim. Marques Bolden while not a starter did have a good game and seem to feed off of his teammates confidence in him. Bolden snagged 8 boards and scored 13 points and showed his unselfishness with several big to big passes that lead to buckets and free throw opportunities for others. There was a marked difference in the speed in which Bolden ran the court in this game versus the first preseason game and he was rewarded by the guards.
While the game itself was never truly competitive Duke did get a chance to use some unconventional lineups and also to employ some different defenses. These are invaluable things going forward with much tougher opponents ahead.
Duke shot 59% from the floor and 28% from beyond the arc. They out-rebounded the Bull Dogs 58-27 as expected as Duke played huge lineups. Duke was much better in this game at valuing the basketball only turning it over 10 times in the contest. Duke also shot much better from the free throw line at 77%, going 17 for 22.
