Coming off of its first loss of the season, Duke bounced back against Indiana, defeating the Hoosiers 90-69. The Blue Zone breaks down three key takeaways, three key stats and looks forward for the Duke squad:
Three key takeaways:
- Duke starts with a bang
In the Maui Invitational final against Gonzaga, a sluggish early effort left Duke in a 47-39 hole at the half, a deficit that the Blue Devils could not overcome. This time, Duke came out rolling—a Jack White 3-pointer with 13 minutes remaining in the first half gave it a 22-10 lead, and Indiana would not come within single digits for the remainder of the contest.
2. Tre Jones stays hot
After averaging 13.7 points on 66.7 percent shooting in the Maui Invitational, Blue Devil point guard Tre Jones continued his strong play on Tuesday night, with 15 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 2 steals, on an efficient 6-for-10 from the field. With no turnovers, Jones continued his brilliance as a floor general, bumping his assist-to-turnover ratio to 5.13, the eleventh-best in the nation.
3. Cam Reddish struggles
Freshman forward Cam Reddish had an off night on Tuesday, with 12 points on a 33 percent field goal percentage to go along with 4 turnovers and 4 fouls. Most surprisingly, Reddish hit just 2 of his 7 attempts from the free-throw line, sending his free-throw percentage from 94.4 percent to 76.0. The 6-foot-8 forward is still adjusting to his role alongside his other freshman phenoms.
Three key stats:
- 17-for-29 from the free-throw line for Duke
The woes from the charity stripe continued for Duke, which connected on just 58.6 percent of its looks from the line. This lowered the team’s mark to just 65.2 percent on the season, good enough for just No. 269 in the country.
2. 24 Duke fouls
Referees were not shy with their whistles last night, calling 44 total fouls in the game. R.J. Barrett fouled out, while Reddish and Javin DeLaurier each picked up 4 fouls. DeLaurier’s 4 fouls came in just 12 minutes, raising his fouls per 40 minutes up to a mind-boggling 12.3.
3. R.J. Barrett hits half of his shots
Barrett, who has been the subject of a lot of criticism for his recent shot selection, made half of his looks for the first time since the team’s season opener against Kentucky. Although the forward started out slow, his diverse scoring ability was on full display, with a mix of inside finishes and jumpers getting him to 23 points.
Looking forward
Duke quelled any sense of panic that arose from the team’s loss to Gonzaga, and absolutely dominated a competent Indiana squad. Yet again, Zion Williamson appeared to be a far superior athlete compared to everybody else on the floor, rising for numerous absurd blocks and dunks throughout the game. The Blue Devils should have no trouble with their upcoming opponents, with Stetson, Hartford, Yale and Princeton on the docket.
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