Duke 88 , Florida Gulf Coast 67 (Final): Having a monster night, Plumlee finished with 28 points, which is a career high for the senior. The Eagles had no answer for him inside. Duke slowed the pace of the game down significantly in order to eat some clock towards the end of the half. After injuring his wrist earlier in the second half, Cook returned to the game for Duke. Despite playing more minutes than he has in his entire career, Murphy did not score.
Duke 81 , Florida Gulf Coast 60 (5:08 second half): In the game's final minutes, the Eagles have seen two players foul out. Cook came out of the game with what appears to be a right wrist injury and has yet to return.
Duke 77 , Florida Gulf Coast 55 (7:22 second half): Duke's offensive production has faltered a bit as Krzyzewski empties his thin bench. Plumlee continues to add to his stat line, with 24 points on the night now.
Duke 69 , Florida Gulf Coast 42 (11:50 second half): With the Duke essentially out of hand, reserves Alex Murphy, Josh Hairston and Amile Jefferson are playing more minutes as the Blue Devils sit on a comfortable lead. Murphy—who until tonight had only logged two minutes of playing time—saw his first shot attempt get blocked, and he failed to connect on a 3-pointer soon after that. Plumlee now has 20 points and 7 rebounds.
Duke 63 , Florida Gulf Coast 37 (15:58 second half): After an explosive scoring output to end the first half, the Blue Devils continued their dominant play as their run peaked at 30-0 in the opening minutes of the second half. Attacking the rim and shooting it well from deep, Sulaimon has continued his stellar play as he now has 17 points. Duke has been able to get wide-open looks from long-range because the Eagles have been forced to double team Plumlee, who continues to score at will in the post.
Duke 52 , Florida Gulf Coast 30 (halftime): Duke has quickly pulled away from the Panthers thanks to 23-o run at the end of the the first half. Florida Gulf Coast has no answers for Plumlee in the post, while the Blue Devil backcourt has shot the ball very well. The Eagles have not scored since the 5:40 mark. Plumlee and Sulaimon lead Duke in scoring with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Duke 38 , Florida Gulf Coast 30 (3:59 first half): Two three-pointers by Cook helped Duke take the lead, while also firing up the crowd. Shooting 6-of-12 from behind the arc has enabled the Eagles to stay in this game. The Blue Devils have gotten to the free-throw line early and often tonight, converting on 13-of-14 attempts. Florida Gulf Coast, meanwhile, has zero attempts from the charity stripe.
Duke 24 , Florida Gulf Coast 24 (7:50 first half): In a game with a frantic pace thus far, the Eagles have been very scrappy, out-reboudning Duke 13-to-8. Curry found the bottom of the net on his third 3-point attempt of the night and freshman Amile Jefferson has logged quality minutes off the bench for Duke. Freshman Rasheed Sulaimon is off to a hot start also with 10 points as Duke appears to be settling in offensively.
Duke 14 , Florida Gulf Coast 15 (11:48 first half): With a significant size advantage, Mason Plumlee is having his way with the Florida Gulf Coast frontcourt. The senior big man has nine points and is 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. The Blue Devils have had more success defensively, forcing five turnovers already.
Duke 7, Florida Gulf Coast 13 (14:22 first half): Sophomore Quinn Cook got the start at point guard tonight for the Blue Devils as they stick with a three-guard lineup. The Eagles, who knocked off Miami last week, have started the game strong, making three three-pointers to build an early lead. Bernard Thompson has connected two treys for Florida Gulf Coast already. Coming off a huge game against Kentucky, Curry has struggled out of the gate, shooting 0-for-2 from distance, while Duke is shooting just 1-for-6 from 3-point range.
Starters:
Duke: Quinn Cook (G), Rasheed Sulaimon (G), Seth Curry (G), Ryan Kelly (PF) and Mason Plumlee (C)
Florida Gulf Coast: Brett Comer (G), Bernard Thompson (G), Eric McKnight (F), Sherwood Brown (G), Chase Fieler (F)
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