In its first exhibition game against Virginia State last week, Duke came out of the gate a little sluggish as a few key players went down with minor injuries.
This time around, none of that was an issue for the Blue Devils—even without three of their top freshmen.
In its second and final preseason tune-up, No. 1 Duke cruised past reigning Division II national champions Augustana 98-45 Friday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Freshman center Marques Bolden dressed but did not play—joining injured classmates and fellow five-star recruits Harry Giles and Jayson Tatum on the bench—but the Blue Devils still had no trouble handling the Vikings.
“Amile [Jefferson] and Grayson [Allen] and myself took it upon ourselves to be those leaders and say, 'Hey, even though it’s an exhibition game and it might not count afterwards, right now we need this to get ready and to get better,'” senior captain Matt Jones said. “Just to be able to have this open run was really good for us.”
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said that because Augustana lacks a true big man, he was just resting Bolden, who impressed in the team's first exhibition. He added that he expects everyone but Giles to be ready for the team's season opener against Marist next week. Giles is out following a knee scope in early October, and Tatum was sidelined with a minor foot sprain last week.
Krzyzewski noted Giles did a non-contact workout with associate head coach Jeff Capel Friday and that he hopes the No. 1 recruit will be ready to play ready this month. Giles still has not done any 5-on-5 work, although he should be moving toward practicing in 5-on-0 drills this week.
“We thought in not playing Marques [Bolden], we could give him some rest and get Chase [Jeter] and Antonio [Vrankovic] more minutes,” Krzyzewski said. “We also wanted to take a look at Amile [Jefferson] playing the five, so we tried to take a look at many different things tonight. Again, we did think we were going to win talent-wise, but we wanted to put our guys in those situations.”
In Friday's game, Luke Kennard led a balanced offensive attack for Duke with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting, one of four players—along with Allen, Jeter and freshman Frank Jackson—to finish with at least 15 points. It was the defensive effort, though, that really drove the blowout, as a consistent swarm of Blue Devils hounded Augustana into shooting just 31 percent from the floor with 22 turnovers.
Against a Viking team that lost its top three scorers from a year ago, Duke wasted no time getting off to a hot start—scoring the game’s first 13 points and opening up a 20-point lead by the under-12 media timeout. Defense keyed the offense in the early going, as the Blue Devils’ man-to-man pressure proved to be too much for the Viking guards.
“We did a great job of moving, and moving together and reacting to what they did. Matt did an amazing job of getting in the passing lanes,” graduate student Amile Jefferson said. “It started with our perimeter—we did a really great job of pressuring the ball and then we protected our basket and really made it hard for them to score.”
Led by Jones’ three steals in the opening 10 minutes, Duke forced 16 turnovers in the first half. Despite shooting just 2-of-7 from the field, the captain—who finished with six thefts—set the tone on defense and was part of a noticeably active unit that clogged passing lanes and frustrated Augustana’s ball-handlers all night long.
Jones also had a highlight-reel dunk off a steal in the second half, something Blue Devil fans have not really seen from the 6-foot-5 guard.
“It felt good,” he said. “I kind of grazed the rim [one time] my freshman year, but nothing like that. It felt good.”
The Blue Devils hit the 50-point mark with more than a minute remaining in the first half on a Jefferson free throw. Jefferson was all over the court Friday night, nearly posting a double-double in the first 20 minutes and taking the ball coast-to-coast on multiple occasions.
Jeter also impressed down low starting in place of Bolden, notching 15 points and 12 rebounds in 21 minutes.
“He was really active around the rim,” Jefferson said. “He did a great job of protecting our basket. He was always lively when he got the ball. He did a great job of finishing today. Here at Duke, we’re always ‘Next man up,’ and he did that really well.”
Despite almost hitting triple digits on the scoreboard, Duke actually struggled shooting the ball and connected on just 1-of-9 3-pointers in the first half. The Blue Devils turned that around after halftime, hitting six triples after sophomore Luke Kennard and freshman Frank Jackson combined to knock down three perimeter shots in the first few minutes.
Duke begins the regular season next week, hosting Marist Friday and Grand Canyon Saturday before a top-five showdown with No. 3 Kansas in Madison Garden Nov. 15 in the Champions Classic.
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