Duke started slow but ended fast against Lipscomb
It was a tale of two halves.
Well, more specifically it was a tale of turnovers in two halves.
In the first half against Lipscomb, Duke seemed totally disjointed and tossed the ball away constantly, racking up 16 before the break, which was somewhat shocking for a team that has really taken care of the ball all season.
It was just constant – Cameron Boozer had four. Nik Khamenia, Isaiah Evans and Cayden Boozer had three each. Four other players had one and only Caleb Foster, Maliq Brown and Darren Harris got to halftime without any.
And Lipscomb, well coached and mature, was ready to take advantage. After going up 10-0, Duke went down 26-16 and had to struggle to catch up. They did by halftime, but the turnovers sabotaged them.
Toss in an ugly looking fall by Nik Khamenia, who landed on his face after scrambling for the ball, and the first half looked like a waste for the Blue Devils.
They did scrap back though, and took a hard-won 48-45 lead to the locker room when Cameron Boozer scored at the buzzer.
The second half was totally different.
Duke cranked things up and just started to pull away from the Bisons. Boozer hit a pair of free throws to push Duke up 52-49. Then he hit a layup and Evans hammered home a dunk to make the lead 56-49. And soon, the floodgates opened. Duke started defending better and got out in transition, hitting easier baskets.
And most of all, they just stopped coughing the ball up.
Foul trouble for Lipscomb helped too.
The first half was not a thing of beauty, but the games coming after exams rarely are.
After the first half though, we started to see a lot of what has distinguished Duke. The Blue Devils defended really well and kept Lipscomb off the boards.
Actually that was one of the better points for the Blue Devils: Duke just dominated the boards, 55-21. On the offensive side, the Blue Devils totally owned that, 20-3.
And while Lipscomb won points off of turnovers 27-11, Duke destroyed the Bisons on second-chance points, 26-0.
In the end, while Lipscomb showed a lot of moxie in the first half, Duke just had too much, outscoring the Bisons 49-28 in the second.
The turnovers were a problem here but won’t be long-term. They haven’t had a game like this before. In fact, against Michigan State last time out, Duke had just 8. It’s more to do with the exam break and being out of sync.
The Blue Devils have a few days to straighten things out before they travel back to the Garden to take on Texas Tech.
Notes – Boozer got another double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds…Patrick Ngongba had one as well with 10 and 11…he also had 2 blocks…we saw notable toughness from Khamenia after his face bounced off the floor and Darren Harris, who really played hard…Cayden Boozer had four turnovers but otherwise played quite well…Foster is playing with a certain swagger that we haven’t seen before…watch him when he drives…different guy…down the stretch, Duke was a very different team…once Dame Sarr gets fully dialed in, he’s going to be a big factor…his physical gifts are truly impressive…
Category: General Sports
