Duke Basketball: Blue Devils, St. John’s in February non-conference game

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 26: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after a play against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 26, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 26: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after a play against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets during their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 26, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Basketball team is hosting the St. John’s Red Storm in a February non-conference game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

As the Duke Blue Devils have reached halftime, hosting St. John’s in a rare February non-conference battle.

There were no changes in Duke’s starting five with Tre Jones, Cam Reddish, R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Marques Bolden.

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The Blue Devils were on fire to start, making its first five shots from the field, with two 3-pointers from Cam Reddish and one from Tre Jones.

However, St. John’s would not be phased by the quick start of the Blue Devils, as the Johnnies were able to take a 19-16 lead early in the first half.

The Blue Devils were able to take a 47-37 lead into halftime, but the second half will be a battle for both teams.

Reddish led Duke with 13 points on three of five shooting, all of those shots from 3-point range.

R.J. Barrett stuffed the stat sheet with five points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.

Zion Williamson finished the first 20 minutes with 13 points along with three rebounds, three steals, and a block.

Tre Jones only had five points at halftime, but it’s the defense of Jones was the talking point of the first half, holding the leading scorer of St. John’s, Shamorie Ponds, who averages 20.9 points per game to no points in the first half, missing all of his five shots.

Another major factor for St. John’s was Marvin Clark picking up three fouls in the first half because he had the hot hand for the Johnnies in the first half with 12 points in the opening minutes.

St. John’s will not back down from Duke, so the Blue Devils must continue to compete and be active defensively to keep Shamorie Ponds quiet.

Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.