Duke catches fire once Zion Williamson enters to down Notre Dame

The Duke Basketball team caught fire the minute Zion Williamson walked into Cameron Indoor Stadium to blow the doors off the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Duke was well on its way to defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday afternoon.

However, toward the beginning of the second half, Zion Williamson walked into Cameron Indoor Stadium, joining Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones, who were also in attendance, and the place absolutely exploded.

Duke did the same.

The Blue Devils went on a 23-9 run once the former National Player of the Year entered the building, and it felt like all of those points came via the 3-point ball en route to a 94-60 victory.

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As a team, Duke had one of its better shooting performances of the season, going 39-of-69 from the field and 10-of-22 from 3-point range.

Vernon Carey Jr. paced the Blue Devils with a dominating performance over fellow ACC Player of the Year candidate John Mooney.

The Blue Devil freshman went for 21 points, four rebounds, two assists, one steal, and two blocks on 8-of-10 shooting, making his lone 3-point attempt, and he was 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

Tre Jones also went for 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists on 9-of-13 shooting with his big brother in attendance.

Mike Krzyzewski got contributions from his entire roster with 12 points each from Matthew Hurt and Alex O’Connell, nine from Jordan Goldwire, eight from Joey Baker, and seven from Javin DeLaurier.

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Despite all the excitement from the game, there was one worrisome factor as Cassius Stanley did not play after reportedly suffering an eye injury in pregame warmups.

Stanley joined the Duke bench midway through the first half and was dressed in full uniform.

The Blue Devils improved to 22-3 (12-2 ACC) and now own sole possession of first place in the ACC and control their own destiny after Clemson’s victory over Louisville on Saturday.

Duke will go back on the road on Wednesday to face a North Carolina State team that needs the game to help its chances to make the NCAA Tournament.