UNCASVILLE, CONN.— Playing their second back-to-back in as many weeks, the Blue Devils are starting to show signs of fatigue.
No. 1 Duke leads No. 21 Rhode Island 34-26 after a messy first half Sunday in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off championship game at Mohegan Sun Arena. Sophomore Luke Kennard led the Blue Devils with 12 points, but both teams—which typically feature high-scoring offenses—struggled to score consistently in a sloppy first 20 minutes.
Jefferson—who led Duke with eight rebounds to go along with six points in the period—poured in the first two buckets, helping the Blue Devils jump out to a quick 6-0 lead in the first three minutes. Rhode Island got off to a rocky start offensively, committing six turnovers through the first media timeout as Duke rotated its perimeter defenders on E.C. Matthews, the Rams’ top scoring threat.
Even with Rhode Island slow to get going, the Blue Devils could not take advantage and started with a cold shooting hand themselves. Duke missed several good perimeter jump shots—including its first eight 3-point attempts—and consequently shot just 4-of-18 through the opening eight minutes, clinging to an 8-6 lead.
The Blue Devil offense opened up a bit coming out of the under-12 media timeout, with a Kennard triple and another inside bucket from Jefferson leading to a 15-6 edge. The Rams battled back, though, with four straight points from guard Jared Terrell helping to eventually cut the deficit to a single point.
Terrell continued to drive the Rhode Island offense but got little help from the rest of his teammates as Duke maintained a slim lead through most of the half. Matthews made the front end of a one-and-one to cut the lead to one for a second time, but a Matt Jones triple—his first points of the half—but the Blue Devils back up 28-24.
Duke closed the half strong on a 9-2 run thanks to its active zone defense to take momentum into the locker room.
Here are some observations from the first half:
- With sophomore Chase Jeter still hampered by an ankle injury he suffered Saturday against Penn State, freshman Frank Jackson slid into the starting lineup for the first time in his young career.
- Jackson entered the game tied for the team lead in scoring at 16.8 points per game and had seven in the first 20 minutes but picked up three fouls in the half.
- Jeter checked into the game for the first time just before the under-12 media timeout, replacing Jackson. He was a bit tentative on the court and quickly picked up two fouls. Antonio Vrankovic also struggled during a brief stint down low in the first half.
- After shooting 8-of-20 from downtown against No. 24 Cincinnati Saturday, Rhode Island hit 1-of-5 attempts from behind the arc in Sunday’s first half. The Rams did not hit double digits until Terrell made two free throws with 8:51 left to play in the half.
- Duke junior Grayson Allen is having another poor game offensively, finishing the first half with just four points on 2-of-7 shooting. The All-American did join the career 1,000 point club late in the period as he fights through multiple injuries.
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