Duke flips script in second half of exhibition
Duke looked young, a bit overmatched and awestruck playing in front of a road crowd. That was the first half of its exhibition game against Tennessee on Sunday night at Thompson-Boling Arena.
It didn’t last.
The Blue Devils turned things around in the second half for an 83-76 win over the Vols in their second and final preseason game.
Cameron Boozer was perhaps more impressive than he was in Tuesday’s exhibition win over UCF. Duke’s next superstar freshman had 24 points, 23 rebounds and six assists. The only turnover he had came in the final minute of the game while Duke was protecting a five-point lead.
Duke got rolling in the second half because of two sophomores, though.
Isaiah Evans flushed a dunk on the first possession of the second half. Patrick Ngongba II drained a 3-pointer on Duke’s next possession, followed by Evans scoring the next five points (two free throws and another 3).
That was an 11-2 run that gave Duke its first lead of the game. Tennessee led for the last 17 minutes of the first half, the lead peaking at nine and by six at halftime (43-37).
Evans had 22 points, 16 of them coming in the second half. He was 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. Last year, the most free throws he took in a game were six.
Ngongba had 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. He had 11 points and six rebounds in the second half, along with all three of his assists.
Freshman Dame Sarr made his preseason debut after sitting out against UCF because of an oblique injury. He had five points, two assists and four fouls in 17 minutes — though, the counting stats don’t illustrate how much of an asset his length creates on the defensive end of the court.
Senior forward Maliq Brown remained out because of the knee surgery he underwent last month.
Duke outrebounded Tennessee 48-39. The Vols had a 24-12 points-in-the-paint advantage in the first half; Duke outscored Tennessee 14-12 in that stat during the second half.
Ja’Kobi Gillespie led Tennessee with 19 points. But he was 5-for-21 from the field. Freshman Nate Ament, a one-time Duke target on the recruiting trail, had 14 points and was 5-for-19 shooting.
The rest of Tennessee’s team shot 19-for-28.
