Duke started slow against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, missing nine of its first 11 shots, before things got going.
Duke controlled the boards early though, and got off to an early, if slow lead, at 6-2. Then the team just took off, going on a 25-6 run, behind a pair of threes from Caleb Foster, and an 11-0 burst, en route to a 90-47 win.
Advertisement
SIUE fouled a lot early, putting Duke in the bonus in the first five minutes. Duke’s immense size advantage, paired with solid perimeter defense that held SIUE to 0-7 from behind the line, helped the Blue Devils roll out to a 43-20 lead.
The second half was more of the same. SIUE hit a pair of threes early in the half, but there just wasn’t much the Cougars could do. Duke’s size and athleticism were overwhelming. The Blue Devils ripped off a closing run of 20-3, outscored SIUE 47-27 after the break, and ultimately won by 43.
It was a lot better than we saw from Duke against Michigan State. Duke was much more aggressive and connected than they were in Chicago. The Blue Devils were more physical and aggressive on defense. Duke forced 19 turnovers, had 11 steals, and blocked eight shots. Five were by Patrick Ngongba; the other three were by Cameron Williams, who had his best game by far.
SIUE shot about 14 percent from outside and 30 percent overall.
Advertisement
Offensively, after the slow start, Duke shot 9-29 from outside (31 percent) and 30-66 overall (45 percent). If you deduct the cold 2-11 start, the Blue Devils shot 50.9 percent overall and 36 percent from behind the line.
Inside, after the cold opening, Duke shot 63.3 percent.
Ngongba, who looked healthy after playing somewhat sick against Michigan State, finished with 13 points on 4-6 shooting. He also had nine rebounds and four assists.
JoJo Boumtje Boumtje finished with 11 points on 5-8/1-2 from the floor, and matched Ngongba on the boards with nine of his own. Dame Sarr finished with 12 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Advertisement
Cayden Boozer had 11 points, led the team in rebounding (!) with 10. He also had four assists. John Blackwell continued his recent offensive struggle with just three points, shooting 1-7.
Caleb Foster came off the bench for 12 points and three boards. Sebastian Wilkins shot 1-5 from the floor, but hit 9-10 from the foul line. Williams finished with nine points.
Coach Jon Scheyer said this about Duke’s offensive struggles: “Offensively, I thought we looked disjointed. We’re a little bit behind in role identification right now — knowing the strengths of each guy and how to position them the right way. As a coaching staff, we got to take the next step with that to help our team.”
With high-powered Illinois in Cameron on Tuesday, figuring that out would be a good idea.
Advertisement
By the way, if you missed it, SIUE coach Brian Barone said this about visiting Duke. Quite lovely, really.
Notes – Boumtje Boumtje pulled off a pretty keen spin move, going from the baseline to the basket in a big hurry…we haven’t seen every team play, but Sebastian Wilkins is a huge luxury off the bench…we really like how Cayden Boozer is growing into his role as point guard…he’d probably prefer to be playing with brother Cameron, but it’s fun to watch him build his own identity…you’d be hard-pressed to find a better teammate than Foster…Williams was a force tonight…like everyone, he was much more aggressive, but we saw more of his athleticism tonight than we’d seen previously…
Go to the DBR Boards to find Blue Healer Auctions || Drop us a line
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: Sports.yahoo.com
