Tre Jones’ career night leads No. 2 Duke over Georgia State
Georgia State gave the Duke Basketball team all they could have asked for, but the Blue Devils emerged victorious thanks to Tre Jones’ career night.
The Duke Blue Devils trailed by three points with under a minute to go in the first half against Georgia State, but a 5-0 run to end the half gave Duke a 36-34 lead at halftime.
It was a slow and sloppy first half for the Blue Devils except for its sophomore point guard Tre Jones.
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Jones ended the night with a career high 31 points as No. 2 Duke improved to 4-0 on the season with a 74-63 victory over Georgia State.
The Apple Valley, Minnesota native made 10-of-19 from the field and 4-of-8 from 3-point range in addition to adding two rebounds, six assists, four steals, and a block.
Tre Jones’ previous career high came in the Sweet 16 a season ago against the Virginia Tech Hokies where he dropped 22 points in a Duke victory.
Vernon Carey Jr. followed up his first collegiate double-double with another as the freshman posted 20 points and 14 rebounds in the victory going 7-of-14 from the field but struggling at the free throw line, only making 6-of-11.
Duke and Georgia were tied at 40 and the combination of Jones, Carey Jr., and Joey Baker sparked an 11-0 run which opened up and game and saw the first floor slap of the season.
Baker ended the game with eight points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field.
Outside of that trio, it was an extreme struggle for the rest of the Blue Devils, turning the ball over 17 times and as a team Duke shot 34.2% from the field, 25.0% from 3-point range, and 58.6% from the free throw line.
The only Blue Devil to make a 3-pointer other than Jones and Baker was Cassius Stanley, who made 1-of-4.
Nonetheless, Duke picked up the victory and in all likelihood will be the No. 1 team in the country heading back to Madison Square Garden for the 2K Empire Classic to face the California Golden Bears on Thursday, November 21 at approximately 9:30pm EST.