The Hurricanes of Miami know more than any team in the ACC what it’s like to play with a patchwork lineup. Miami has had to struggle this season playing most of it with just 7 healthy, eligible scholarship players. The Blue Devils had a decided advantage in depth against Miami and it showed. The Blue Devils were in desperate need of a get-right game after going 2-2 in their last 4. The Blue Devils, playing their 4th game without freshman Zion Williamson, came out strong.
On the strength of Tre Jones defensive clamp down on Miami’s point guard Chris Lykes and a balanced scoring attack Duke was able to put away the Canes before the halftime intermission. Jones held the crafty Lykes to 0-8 shooting in the first half, 1-15 with 4 points and 2 assists for the game. As a squad the Blue Devils only allows the Hurricanes 19 points in the first half and a 28 point deficit.
The Blue Devils held the undermanned Hurricanes to 27% shooting in that first half while the Blue Devils attacked the paint shooting 56% from the floor and 50% from 3 point range in that furious first half drubbing.
The Blue Devils had 4 of 5 starters in double figures including Cam Reddish and RJ Barrett who scored 19 points a piece. Barrett added 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Reddish added 7 rebounds and 4 assists. Barrett’s double-double was his seventh of the season. Junior center Marques Bolden added a double double, his second of the season and 3rd of his career. Freshman Alex O’Connell made his third straight start and scored 11 points. He is averaging 12.3 points over the last three games, and shooting 8-of-13 (.615) from three-point range in that time. Freshman point guard Tre Jones didn’t have his best floor game of the season with 4 turnovers but Jones did have 5 assists and 6 steals, matching his career high.
One moment that got the already loud crowd into a frenzy was junior forward Jack White finally hitting a 3-point shot after missing 28 shots in a row from beyond the arc. White went on to hit 3 in a row scoring 9 points for the Blue Devils.
Next up for Duke is a date in Cameron with Wake Forest on Tuesday.
