Duke grinds down Texas to win opener
CHARLOTTE – The offense was hit or miss. Duke’s defense in the season opener, was ole reliable.
The Blue Devils locked up Texas for a 75-60 victory on Tuesday night at Spectrum Center.
Duke was led by Isaiah Evans’ 23 points, as the sophomore got hot early and hit a few clutch buckets late. That’s a career-high for the sophomore; he capped it with a one-handed dunk for Duke’s last two points.
Duke opened the second half on a 10-0 run, quickly moving past a one-point halftime deficit. Cameron Boozer, scoreless in the first half, scored or assisted on eight of those points.
The Blue Devils never trailed after that. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, as coach Jon Scheyer likes to say—Texas cut the lead to 51-48 with 9:34 left.
Scheyer took a timeout, Caleb Foster hit a key mid-range jumper that ignited an 8-0 run, and the lead stayed above 10 for just about the rest of the game.
Texas shot 19-for-59 and committed 16 turnovers. Those giveaways only led to eight points but they sure made for a long night for the Longhorns.
The first half played out in three parts and only one of them was good for Duke.
Dame Sarr’s 3-pointer were Duke’s only points for the first 6-plus minutes. The Blue Devils started the game 1-for-10 and through that opening stretch, had more turnovers (two) than field goals.
And then Duke got hot.
Evans drilled a 3-pointer at the 13:10 mark. That got the sophomore going in a hurry — he scored 14 points in a 4-minute span.
And it got Duke going.
The Blue Devils scored 26 points in a 7-minute span. Darren Harris knocked down a step-back 3. Patrick Ngongba II scored three buckets. Maliq Brown converted a three-point play.
But the lights went out after that. Duke had three points — all on free throws — in the last 6-plus minutes of the first half.
That’s how Texas took a 33-32 lead into halftime.
Did you enjoy this story? If so, subscribe to Devils Illustrated to read *every* in-depth, objective, substantive story. Click here, subscribe, and stop missing out!
