Coming off a tough season-opening win against Kentucky Tuesday night, the Blue Devils faced a scrappy Army squad Friday at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Duke’s Veteran’s Day Showcase. The Knights would cut a 15-point 2nd half deficit to single digits, before a pair of Jeremy Roach threes would be the catalyst to the Devils pulling away for good. Duke ultimately defeated Army 82-56, but not before they learned a valuable lesson – they can’t take any halves off.
“This is a good night for us because we played against a team that played so hard and was so determined,” Coach K said after the win. “That’s how everyone is going to come. For these kids, it’s their second college game and first home game and there’s a lot to learn. Overall, we played really good defense. We forced 21 turnovers and gave up 56 points – that’s good. I did not think we were strong with the ball and that has to do with them [Army West Point] playing so hard. I think overall this was a good night for our team and a great learning experience.”
“You’re going to get everyone’s best shot,” freshman Paolo Banchero said. “Army’s a good team. They’re tough, they were making shots, playing physical. We went up 10-0 and they weren’t phased at all. That’s what Coach told us. We went up 10-0 and kind of got comfortable and, maybe expected them to fold and that wasn’t the case, so obviously we learned from that.”
Duke won’t have long to show they’ve learned their lesson. The Blue Devils turn right back around to take on Campbell Saturday night.
Notes:
- Junior Wendell Moore Jr., recorded just the fifth triple-double in Duke history with his 19-point, 10-rebound, 10- assist effort in 35 minutes. Duke’s last triple-double came from RJ Barrett vs. NC State on 2/16/19. The Blue Devils other triple-doubles have come from Art Heyman (2/28/63 vs. Virginia), Gene Banks (1/9/78 vs. Lehigh), Shelden Williams (1/11/06 vs. Maryland) and Barrett. Moore was 7-of-13 from the field, 3-of-4 at the free throw line and also had two steals. His 10 assists were a career high and he committed just one turnover in the game. It marked his third career double-double.
- Freshman Paolo Banchero recorded his first career double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds in 26 minutes. Banchero was 7-of-9 from the field, 1-of-1 from three-point range and 3-of-3 at the free throw line.
- Freshman Trevor Keels recorded a game-high six steals. It stands as tied for the second best single-game steal performance by a Duke freshman and the most since six by Tre Jones vs. Miami, 3/2/19. Shane Battier’s seven vs. Davidson (11/20/97) is the Duke freshman record.
- Keels finished with 10 points, three rebounds and two assists in 30 minutes.
- Sophomore Jeremy Roach was Duke’s fourth in double-figures with 14 points, four assists and three rebounds.
- Graduate transfer Bates Jones made his Duke debut, playing seven minutes and hitting his lone three-point attempt.
- Mike Krzyzewski is in his 42nd season as Duke’s head coach, and his record is now 1,099-302 at Duke, and 1,172-361 overall in this, his 47th season overall.
- Duke is now 41-1 in home openers under Coach K and has won 40 consecutive.
- The series versus Army West Point now stands at 12-3 in Duke’s favor, including 8-0 in the Coach K era.
- Duke is now 916-168 at Cameron Indoor Stadium all-time, including 558-73 under Coach K.
- Tonight’s game marked 616 days since the last regular-season game at Cameron Indoor with fans – March 7, 2020 vs. North Carolina.
- Duke has now connected on at least one three-point field goal in 1,116 consecutive games – the nation’s second longest active streak.
- Duke had four players in double-figure points in the game.
- The Blue Devils had 14 steals and forced Army into 21 turnovers. Duke held a 27-9 edge in points-off-turnover scoring and a 19-5 edge in fast-break points.
- Duke never trailed in the game, leading for 39:42.
