Dukes first exhibition game ends with a 105-87 win against Division II champs Western Washington. Duke had it’s moments where it looked like the number 8 team in the country, and other like a team with work to do. Western Washington came in with a ton of confidence after hanging tough with the University of Washington only losing by 10. WWU was able to keep Duke in their sites taking advantage of the new look Blue Devils’ occasional defensive miscues. WWU also won the turnover battle besting Duke by 3 in that category. Duke, however, did win the rebounding battle and shot 31 more free throws.
Leading Duke on offense, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee scored 22 each and combined for 17 rebounds. Mason was dynamic on offense in the second half, slamming in off of misses and off of feeds from Quinn Cook. Mason Plumlee and Duke in general should be much improved at both ends of the court with a healthy Quinn Cook at the point.
In his first game as a Blue Devil, Rasheed Sulaimon (who spelled the injured Seth Curry) scored 20 points and dished 3 assists. Sulaimon forced the issue on offense, driving the lane and hitting 2 of 4 from 3point range. Sulaimon was also Dukes best defender, pestering the Vikings ball-handlers turning steals into quick points and fast break opportunities.
The Offense for the Blue Devils at this stage of the game is ahead of the defense, but the issues that Duke did have are fixable and should resolve themselves with more in-game experience.
Official Basketball Box Score
Western Washington vs Duke
10/27/12 2:00 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium (Durham, N.C.)
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VISITORS: Western Washington
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
11 Jones,Paul.......... f 10-17 0-1 0-0 1 4 5 4 20 1 1 0 0 25
44 Bragg,Austin........ f 2-6 1-3 0-0 3 4 7 5 5 1 1 0 0 19
42 Mitchell,Chris...... c 3-7 1-3 1-2 3 2 5 4 8 1 3 2 2 37
14 Woodworth,Richard... g 5-6 1-1 2-2 2 2 4 2 13 3 3 0 4 32
20 Allen,John.......... g 7-16 3-5 0-0 0 1 1 4 17 1 2 0 4 30
01 Davis,Alfred........ 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
02 Thorpe,Dane......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 4
03 Wilkins,Rico........ 5-13 2-8 0-0 1 0 1 0 12 1 0 0 2 21
10 Turner,Anye......... 1-4 0-0 1-2 2 0 2 5 3 1 1 0 1 11
13 Severson,Cameron.... 3-8 0-1 3-3 2 1 3 0 9 0 2 2 1 15
40 Fisher,Damien....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 5
Team................ 3 2 5
Totals.............. 36-80 8-22 7-9 18 16 34 27 87 10 15 4 14 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-43 37.2% 2nd Half: 20-37 54.1% Game: 45.0% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-12 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-10 40.0% Game: 36.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 3-4 75.0% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 77.8% 1
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HOME TEAM: Duke
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
05 Mason Plumlee....... f 8-14 0-0 6-8 3 8 11 3 22 2 5 0 1 33
12 Alex Murphy......... f 3-5 0-0 0-2 1 3 4 1 6 1 2 2 1 19
34 Ryan Kelly.......... f 6-9 3-4 7-7 3 3 6 1 22 4 3 1 0 28
02 Quinn Cook.......... g 4-10 1-5 4-5 0 5 5 1 13 3 6 0 1 32
14 Rasheed Sulaimon.... g 6-9 2-4 6-7 1 1 2 1 20 3 2 0 2 29
03 Tyler Thornton...... 1-2 0-1 1-2 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 2 24
15 Josh Hairston....... 1-3 0-0 4-4 3 2 5 1 6 0 0 0 0 15
21 Amile Jefferson..... 5-7 0-0 3-5 1 2 3 2 13 1 0 2 1 19
52 Todd Zafirovski..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
TEAM................ 2 3 5
Totals.............. 34-59 6-14 31-40 14 27 41 10 105 16 18 5 8 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-31 54.8% 2nd Half: 17-28 60.7% Game: 57.6% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-9 44.4% 2nd Half: 2-5 40.0% Game: 42.9% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 16-22 72.7% 2nd Half: 15-18 83.3% Game: 77.5% 4
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Officials: Tim Comer, Sean Casady, Bill Covington Jr.
Technical fouls: Western Washington-None. Duke-None.
Attendance: 9314
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Western Washington............ 39 48 - 87
Duke.......................... 54 51 - 105
WWU - Bragg fouled out at 8:08 in 2nd
Turner fouled out at 1:10 in 2nd
