It was not pretty, but the Duke Basketball team managed to pull away from the Hartford Hawks using a big second half.
It was the Blue Devils’ worst first half of the season and their worst first half since the win over North Carolina in Cameron Indoor Stadium last season.
Duke was only to manage 33 points in the first 20 minutes, and while that is a good number for most teams in the country, the Blue Devils just lacked energy in the first half going into the locker room only winning by nine points.
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The Hawks were still able to keep it close until the under eight minute media timeout, but Hartford’s best player, John Carroll, fouled out early in the second half and the team just could not come back from that.
Following his ACC Freshman of the Week Award, R.J. Barrett led the way for the Blue Devils with 27 points, 15 rebounds, and four assists, connecting on ten of his fourteen shot attempts, making three of four from three-point range.
Zion Williamson was able to add 15 points to the Blue Devils 84-54 victory along with 12 rebounds, three steals, an assist, and a block.
Tre Jones and Javin DeLaurier both had 10 points as Jones also chipped in three rebounds, six assists, and two steals, while DeLaurier had four rebounds, two assists, three steals, and five blocks.
Cam Reddish struggled finding a rhythm tonight as he only managed five points, making two of his twelve shots, one of nine from beyond the arc. Reddish was able to add two rebounds, four assists, and four steals in the winning effort.
The victory moves the Blue Devils to 8-1 on the season and drops the Hartford Hawks to 3-7 on the year.
Duke will host the Yale Bulldogs on Saturday night at 5:30 pm ET and the game can be seen on ESPN.