Coming off a statement victory against routine powerhouse Ohio State, the Blue Devils cooked the Fightin Blue Hens, handing them their worst loss of their season in a 88-50 victory. Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly exhibited dominant senior leadership, while Rasheed Sulaimon continued to show his development into an elite college basketball player. In addition, the large lead allowed the Crazies to see more action from bench players, especially from youngsters Amile Jefferson and Alex Murphy. This was Duke's 98th straight non-conference home win.
Here’s your postgame breakdown:
Revisiting the three keys to the game:
- Thornton steps in for Curry. With Seth resting his ankle on the bench, Tyler proved to be a fantastic substitute. The guard finished with three points and a career-high eight assists. Thornton also played tough defense, grabbing six rebounds and snatching four steals.
- Limiting second chance opportunities. Well, Delaware had 12 offensive rebounds. Duke had just nine. In the first half, Duke only managed to score three foul shots off three offensive rebounds. In the second half, the Blue Devils grabbed six offensive rebounds and profited six more points. The team must improve both their total offensive rebounds and second chance points, especially when conference play begins.
- So, is this a 3-point shooting team? They're getting there. After shooting 28.8 percent from beyond the arc in the past three games, the Blue Devils nailed 35 percent of their 3-point shots, going 7-for-20. In the first half, Duke went just 3-for-13. The Blue Devils improved this statistic in the second half, scoring 4-of-7 from deep.
Three key plays of the game:
- 15:39, first half: After causing two turnovers in under two minutes, Mason Plumlee made up for his blunders. Following a jump shot by Blue Hen guard Terrell Rogers, Rasheed Sulaimon found the 6-foot-10 forward under the basket, who spun into the paint to knock down a tough layup. The Bue Devil proceeded to go on a 15-0 run in the next six minutes and 41 seconds.
- 10:56, first half: Delaware guard Larry Savage rebounded teammate guard Devon Saddler's missed jumpshot, dribbled out along the baseline, and turned around to shoot the short jumpshot. To his surprise, he met Mason Plumlee's hand and was powerfully denied. Totaling three blocks against Delaware, Plumlee continues his streak of at least one block in every game this season.
- 16:58, second half: As Blue Hen guard Devon Saddler dribbled up the court, Mason Plumlee swooped in to steal the ball. He quickly fired a pass to Rasheed Sulaimon, who maneuvered under the basket and scored the reverse layup despite being fouled. His free throw fell threw the hoop to complete the three-point play.
Three key stats:
- 52.2 field goal percentage: Duke finished with one of its highest shooting percentages of the year. In the first half, the Blue Devils shot 16-for-31, a high 51.6 percent. This a largely a result of forward Ryan Kelly, who drained 8-of-13 shots, in addition to Plumlee's 67 percent. The Blue Devils finished 35-for-67.
- 27 bench points. The large margin of victory gave Coach K the opportunity to show Duke's roster depth. Amile Jefferson, Alex Murphy and Josh Hairston combined for 25 points of the bench. Jefferson leading the pack with 12. The trio also added a massive 20 rebounds. Even walk-on forward Todd Zafirovski added two points, the first off his career. After the Cameron Crazies were chanting "We want Todd", Coach K put him in and he played the final six minutes, also contributing a rebound and block.
- 10 points for forward Alex Murphy: Murphy put away his first points as a Blue Devil, shooting 4-for-7 and adding a three. The redshirt freshman also collected seven rebounds. One key play was a straight up rejection against Blue Hen guard Devon Saddler with five minutes left in the game, amping up the Cameron Crazies and the overall noise level.
And the Duke game ball goes to … Mason Plumlee. Plumlee earned his fifth double-double of the season, concluding the game with 18 points and 11 rebounds. The Duke veteran threw in three blocks and two steals. Keep in mind Plumlee did not play most of the second half.
And the game ball goes to … Devon Saddler. Saddler led Delaware in almost all of the team's stat categories. The junior finished with 23 points, nine rebounds, and four steals. Sadly for the Blue Hens, Saddler also led the team in turnovers (four).
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