The Duke men’s basketball team held its third Blue-White scrimmage Friday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, making final preparations for the season opener next week.
With Cameron Indoor Stadium nearly configured for this season with graphics in the lower arena, the Blue Devils did a full dry-run of a game day with a National Anthem and pregame introductions before a 40-minute scrimmage over three periods. The first being 10 minutes, followed by two 15-minute periods that each began with no score.
After the two teams battled to an 8-8 tie early on, the White team used a balanced scoring attack to go on a 16-5 run over the last six minutes of the first stanza for a 24-13 final score. Six different players recorded a basket for the White squad, led by six points and 4-of-4 free throw shooting from freshman Jalen Johnson.
After a number of players switched jerseys for the second frame, the White squad shot out to a 12-0 lead less than three minutes in, led by an impressive sequence from sophomore Wendell Moore Jr. Moore hit a three to make it 5-0, then stole a pass on the ensuing possession and found senior Jordan Goldwire in the corner for another quick trey. As quickly as the lead grew, however, the Blue team answered just as fast, clawing its way back into the contest over the next five-plus minutes.
Using a 19-5 run that included an 8-0 spurt, the Blues found themselves in a position to overcome their slow start and take the lead for the first time in the period. They would do just that on a put-back layup from freshman Henry Coleman III that gave the team a 21-20 advantage. Both sides traded buckets down the stretch, with neither holding a lead greater than four points.
With 11 seconds remaining, Moore hit a pair of key free throws to make it a three-point game in favor of the White team. With the Blue team looking for the tie, Moore blocked a three-point attempt as time expired to preserve the 33-30 victory.
The Preseason All-ACC pick from Charlotte, N.C., caught fire to open the final period, going 6-for-6 from the floor for 14 points at the halfway mark. Moore’s offensive surge helped the Blue team build a 23-16 lead eight minutes into the frame. Five straight points from Goldwire cut it down to five with just over three minutes left, but some crucial buckets by the Blue team that included a transition three from freshman DJ Steward kept the game out of reach. With 45 seconds remaining, a lob from Steward was thrown down by fellow freshman Jaemyn Brakefield to put the exclamation point on a 49-40 win.
Moore finished the frame with 23 points on 8-of-9 shooting. Over the three periods combined, he poured in 37 points, going 12-of-19 from the field and 11-of-13 on free throws. Goldwire added 26 points of his own on 10-of-18 shooting. The senior guard was also 4-of-8 from three-point range. Sophomore Matthew Hurt totaled 22 for the night on 7-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-4 from long range and 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Johnson scored 15 points, grabbed 10 boards and dished five assists.
The two teams combined for a 77-of-131 (.588) field goal shooting performance and a 37-of-44 (.841) clip at the foul line.
No. 9-ranked Duke will make its next appearance in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, Nov. 25 for a season-opening matchup with Gardner-Webb.
