2 historic nights in a row for Duke as Marvin Bagley yesterday gets his name etched in Duke history with the most points by a freshman in his debut and tonight Coach K becomes the first Division 1 coach to win 1000 games at one school. Duke took on the Utah Valley Wolverines who were 24 hours removed from playing a top 5 ranked Kentucky team tough, even at one point leading them by 10 points. The Wolverines played Duke well in the first half by playing fast paced offense and spreading Duke out. In that first half the Wolverines counted Duke’s talent with an impressive display on the boards winning the battle in the first half 26-22 despite starting 4 guards. Duke would eventually pull away enough to lead at the break by 15. Duke went into the half wth 3 players in double figures with Marvin Bailey scoring 14 on his way to 24 for the game. Bagley also pulled down 10 boards.
Wendell Carter Jr, saddled with foul trouble against Elon, played 31 minutes against Utah Valley and scored 12 points, pulled down 7 boards, dished 4 assists, had 3 steals and had 4 blocks. Carter showed his versatility at both ends of the floor even hitting on a straight away 3 pointer. Every Duke starter scored in double figures in the game with two Dukies achieving double-doubles the most impressive may have been Trevon Duval who scored 15 points and dimed out 12 assists. Duval has earned 20 assists in his first 2 college games.
Duke took a queue from Kentucky who switched to a zone defense to counter Utah Valley and to create turnovers and easy offense and just like the night before it worked. Duke was able to turn the Wolverines over to the tune of 19 and scored 33 points off of those turnovers. Duke scored the lions share of those points on fast breaks which Duke worked to a 28 to 6 advantage.
THINGS OF NOTE:
The Blue Devils shot much better from the free throw line in this game going 11 of 17 for 65%, and much better from beyond the arc at 44%.
Alex O’Connell continues to impress. O’Connell only scored 4 points but he also had 2 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals. O’Connell looked completely comfortable on the floor which has been a theme so far this year for the freshmen. They have yet to look like freshmen.
PLUSES:
Duke used defense to trigger offense in this game like the Duke teams of old. 14 steals, 7 blocked shots.
Improved 3-point and free throw shooting.
26 assists! A number that Duke did not reach at all last year, not once.
MINUSES:
Shot selection in the first half.
Only outrebounding the Wolverines by 3, a team that starts 4 guards.
