It was projected to be a big time ACC matchup. The number 1 defense in the ACC vs the number 1 offense in the ACC. The battle of 2 undefeated teams in league play didn’t turn out to be the back-and-forth game most expected. The Devils went down to Dallas and methodically picked apart Andy Ensfield’s team with a defensive masterclass and an offensive explosion.
The Blue Devils didn’t have their typical slow start to begin the game. Duke was steady. Prepared. The first half saw a game of runs by both teams, the Blue Devils twice pushed their first half lead to 10, at the 15:22 mark (17-7) and again at the 6:34 mark (30-20). The Mustangs battled back both times. Even when the Mustangs worked back into the game, Duke withstood and still pushed the Mustangs and garnered an 9 point halftime lead on the strength of their stout defense and freshman Cooper Flagg’s 15 first half points. The Blue Devils held the Mustangs to just 32 points in the first half on 36.4% shooting and 20% shooting from beyond the arc.
The second half saw the Blue Devils push their lead to 19 at the 15:16 mark of the second half, but again the Mustangs battled back and 2 minutes later the lead was down to 12. The Blue Devils again went on another run, this time pushing the lead to 21 at the 9:24 mark. 19 was as close as the Mustangs would get, as Duke would eventually push the lead to 27 to finish the game on a Patrick Ngongba layup with 44 second left.
Cooper Flagg led the Blue Devils in scoring and rebounding, notching a double-double with 24 points and 11 rebounds. 2 other players offered double-figure efforts, with Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel scoring 14 each. Sion James led the Blue Devils in assists with 8 of Duke’s 22 assists for the game. The Blue Devils shot the ball well, hitting at 53% for the game overall and 41% from beyond the arc for the game. The Mustangs did what they do on the offensive glass, grabbing 21 offensive rebounds and scoring 15 second chance points. The Blue Devils narrowly won the overall rebounding battle with a 42-41 advantage. The Blue Devils defense locked the Mustangs up, holding the high-powered Mustangs to just 34% shooting and 24% from 3-point range.
The Blue Devils move to 12-2 on the season, 4-0 in ACC play and 4-0 in road games, winning by an average margin of 19.5. Next up for Duke, a date in Cameron Indoor with the Pitt Panthers on Tuesday, January 7th.
