Blue Devils power past Louisville
Duke didn’t follow the script of the past three matchups against Louisville.
The Blue Devils actually had a halftime lead in Monday night’s game. There was no need for a second-half comeback, as has been the case in each of the last three meetings against Louisville.
Duke was up 10 at halftime and cruised to a 83-52 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium, beating the Cardinals for the fourth time in about 14 months.
The Blue Devils (19-1, 8-0 ACC) continued their unbeaten start to league play by extending their lead early in the second half.
Patrick Ngongba II scored 10 points in the first 2½ minutes of the second half. Later, it was Nikolas Khamenia catching fire with a couple of corner 3s. The freshman scored all 14 of his points in the second half.
Those performances were complementary to the usual suspects putting up strong games. Cameron Boozer had 19 points and 10 rebounds, along with four assists. Isaiah Evans was hot early, scoring 13 of his 15 points in the first half.
Defense, too, was the key to this thrashing. Louisville made 11 of 34 shots from 3-point range and was just 5-for-20 from inside the arc. The Blue Devils won the paints in the paint category 42-10.
The first half gave the appearance that this would be another tightly contested game between these teams that played for the ACC championship last year.
Louisville (14-6, 4-4) only led once. But the Blue Devils didn’t create separation until a 14-3 run — including the last nine points — entering halftime.
Duke pushed the lead past 20 when Evans hit a mid-range jumper that made it 62-41 with 11:48 left.
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