The Blue Devils ran into some obstacles in trying to get a game played Saturday. After having to cancel the game against Cleveland State, then another against Loyola – the Elon Phoenix stepped up and made the trek to Cameron Indoor. The Blue Devils didn’t waste much time in this one, going to the post early and often scoring 30 points in the paint in the first half and punishing the Phoenix 44-26 on the scoreboard.
After giving up 34 offensive rebounds and 36 second chance points in their last 2 games the mission was clear for the Blue Devils – do better. Against Elon the Blue Devils only gave up 5 offensive rebounds which led to only 4 second chance points. Overall the Blue Devils out rebounded the Phoenix 39-31. The Blue Devils were pesky and stout defensively forcing the Phoenix into 22 turnovers with 14 steals.
The second half saw Duke pour it on, using a 20-8 run beginning at the 15:41 mark to push the lead to 30 points and put the game out of reach and a final tally of 87-56. Trevor Keels 19 points led a balanced Blue Devil offensive attack which featured 4 double-figure scorers. Wendell Moore Jr. continued his streak of stat stuffing games scoring 12 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds. Jeremy Roach shot 3-4 from 3 point range and is 8 of his last 15 from 3, scoring 11 against Elon with 3 assists and 2 steals. Paolo Banchero added 12 points and added 9 rebounds and 2 blocks.
