Duke locks down Cal in second half
Duke put the clamps on another ACC opponent in the second half and remained unbeaten in the league.
The Blue Devils won 71-56 at California on Wednesday night at Haas Pavilion, in the program’s first ACC game at Cal.
The sixth-ranked Blue Devils (16-1, 5-0 ACC) ended the first half on a 13-0 run. That defensive effort carried into the second half, with Duke holding Cal (13-5, 1-4) to 7-for-22 shooting and 26 points in the last 20 minutes.
“Really proud of the defense. That’s something we’ve been spending a lot of time (on),” coach Jon Scheyer said on Duke’s post-game radio interview. “I thought our defense was terrific.”
Duke never trailed in the second half. Cal tied it early, though, with a 7-0 run that tied it at 41-41 with about 15 minutes left.
The Blue Devils pulled away when Cameron Boozer got rolling.
Duke’s powerful freshman had a second-half double-double, with 17 points and 10 rebounds after halftime. He finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds for the game. At halftime, he was minus-10; he finished the game plus-2.
“Just had to find a way to get going,” Boozer told Duke’s radio crew afterward. “I’ve put in a lot of attention to detail, a lot of effort.”
Boozer scored 15 of Duke’s last 30 points, including a personal 6-0 burst in the last few minutes.
Duke squeezed the life out of this game over the last few minutes. Cal made two field goals in the last 11 minutes and one of those was a jumper by Dai Dai Ames with 1:40 left and the outcome in hand.
Cal led for about 15 minutes in the first half; Duke for just over 3 minutes. It was the finishing kick that sent the Blue Devils to halftime with a 37-30 lead.
Duke scored the last 13 points of the first half. Eight of those came from Isaiah Evans, as the sophomore got hot and drained two long-distance 3-pointers. His other bucket came after an offensive rebound on a free throw, spinning into the lane and between two defenders for a dunk.
Evans, coming into the game with three straight games scoring over 20 points, had 12 in the first half on 4-for-8 shooting. He finished with 17, the last of those points coming with about 13 minutes left.
Tip-ins …
– Duke’s 42 points in the paint equaled a season-high against power-conference competition. The other game Duke had that many points in the paint against a power-conference foe was the 80-71 win against Arkansas.
– That’s two straight ACC road games that Duke’s opponent has scored 26 points in the second half. Louisville also had that many in last week’s game.
– Nikolas Khamenia scored 10 points in his return to his home state. He was plus-24 in 25 minutes off the bench and Scheyer lauded his freshman wing—especially for his play at the end of the first half.
“Nik came in and gave us a big lift in that moment,” Scheyer said. “I thought he made … winning plays. I’m really proud of him.”
