Duke 94, Elon 68, 1:45 left in the second half: Duke hit a bevy of 3-pointers, first Dawkins, then Smith and Kelly, to give it this insurmountable lead. Dean Smith's record is about to get tied.
Check back later for quotes and more analysis from the game.
Duke 83, Elon 66, 3:52 left in the second half: Things got a little hairy for Duke there, but it seems as if the Blue Devils are finally pulling away with this thing. Dawkins spurred the Duke offense after hitting a 3-pointer, drawing enough contact to knock him to the floor and then swishing the free throw.
Smith continues to play with four fouls and has 19 now. Singler still leads all scorers with 24.
Duke 74, Elon 60, 7:27 left in the second half: Elon cut the Duke lead to 13, and Smith came back in, allowing Duke's offense to completely come alive. After offensive stagnation with Thornton at the point, in came Smith, and the senior delivered, getting two easy buckets and giving the team a completely new offensive look. We'll see if he plays timid at all with four fouls.
Duke 68, Elon 48, 11:30 left in the second half: Still no sign of Smith, but Dawkins and Curry have performed well in his stead. Singler continues to light it up and now has 24 points and seven rebounds.
Possibly the game's highlight: An Elon student has found his way to the front row of the student section, and immediately made himself known, first by singing Christmas carols and other songs during the Blue Devils' free throw attempts, and then later by yelling out, "Hey, is that Bill Cowher?!" The Jaw is indeed in the crowd.
Duke 55, Elon, 41, 15:26 left in the second half: Ryan Kelly just an eventful few moments. He swung around the wing to find Singler for an open 3-pointer to put Duke up 16. Then he drew a charge on a much smaller Elon guard. Then he was called for an offensive foul. All in the span of about 40 seconds.
If you can't tell, I'm having trouble finding things to write about.
Duke 49, Elon 36, 17:44 left in the second half: Not the best start for Duke to kick off the second half with the Blue Devils giving up five points to the Phoenix while missing everything that comes their way But, more importantly, Smith is in serious foul trouble. The senior just picked up his fourth (!) foul, and will be parked on the bench for a while.
Duke 49, Elon 31, HALFTIME: And the half ends with a bang—Elon's Chris Long went coast-to-coast and hit a leaning 3-pointer with time about to expire that put the Duke lead under 20. The relative ease in which the Phoenix player went through the Duke defense will have Krzyzewski annoyed, it's safe to say.
The Blue Devils' senior leadership led the way in the first half, with Smith and Singler tallying a combined 23 points. Singler, as a matter of fact, got it done in all aspects of his game, recording six rebounds and five assists to go along with his 12 points.
Not surprisingly, Duke won the battle in the paint in the first half, 26-10.
Duke 36, Elon 20, 3:56 left in the first half: Well, on the And 1 mixtape tour (if that still exists), Smith would now have the play of the night. The senior made a circus shot to put Duke up 16, then, on the subsequent Duke possession, led a fast break, completely crossed up an Elon defender and hit a fadeaway jumper. Alas, the senior was called for an offensive foul—a call which sent Krzyzewski (now about 23 game minutes away from Smith's mark) to heatedly disagree with the officiating crew.
Duke 30, Elon 16, 7:28 left in the first half: Singler has the early candidate for play of the night—a brilliant back-to-the-basket reverse layup, executed while taking heavy contact, underneath the basket (that had more spin on it than a Tiger Woods approach shot). A breakaway dunk by Kelly got more buzz in Cameron, but Singler's shot was technically incredible.
Not much else to report here. Josh Hairston and Tyler Thronton are firmly in the rotation already, which should tell you all you need to know about the caliber of Duke's opponent.
Duke 21, Elon 8, 12:34 left in the first half: Singler is Duke's MVP so far in this contest. He's got seven, including a three that caused Elon head coach Matt Matheny to call timeout. He's also playing lockdown defense, and there's no Phoenix(es?) that match up well with him.
Not exactly the prettiest brand of basketball being played since the last media timeout. We're at seven total fouls right now.
Duke 10, Elon 8, 15:01 left in the first half: Nolan Smith drew first blood for Duke with a 3-pointer from the top of the key, but turns the ball over on the next possession. Get used to turnovers tonight, on both sides. Smith is still working out the kinks as point guard, and Elon seems willing to run with the Blue Devils, at least in this early going.
Elon actually led the Blue Devils for a brief time until Dawkins hit a 3-pointer with about 15:30 left in the half.
In today's edition of the Kyrie Irving fashion watch, the freshman is wearing a pair of jeans and a double pocket button-down that looks almost like military fatigues. I give him seven Seth Currys (on a 10-point scale).
PREGAME: A little late start to the live blog tonight; our apologies.
Tonight, Duke takes on Elon in a matchup... who are we kidding, the real story is not the game, which will be, in all likelihood, a Duke blowout. No, tonight, the real story is a certain record that is about to be tied—Dean Smith's No. 2 mark on the all-time coaching wins list at 879. It's a mark that many North Carolina fans are probably kicking themselves to see fall, and it's a mark that is sure to attract much media attention in this basketball-crazed state.
Strap in. The action tonight is all off the court, but, regardless, exciting.
Starters for Elon:
G Drew Spradlin
G Terrance Birdette
G Christ Long
F Roger Dugas
F Scott Grable
Starters for Duke:
G Nolan Smith
G Seth Curry
F Mason Plumlee
F Miles Plumlee
F Kyle Singler
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