Defense and near turnover-free half has Duke basketball up on Kentucky at halftime

#6 Duke leads #19 Kentucky 46-37 at halftime of the later game of the two in the State Farm Champions Classic. It was an electrifying first half that saw tons of scoring and back and forth action. It definitely took a few minutes for the Blue Devils to settle in, but they find themselves with the lead at the break.

Duke maybe got caught a little bit off guard with Kentucky's nonstop movement on offense. The Blue Devils looked a bit sped up on the defensive side of the ball over the first few minutes of the tip which allowed the Wildcats to get out to an early lead.

Mark Pope's Wildcats run a five-out system with constant cutting, passing, and screeening. Across the first five or so minutes of the first half, Duke wasn't switching as effectively as it needed to and left some pick-and-pop action open leading to open Kentucky looks from the outside. The Wildcats hit their first five threes of the game bringing them out to an early lead.

Duke eventually tightened up the ball pressure and stayed with cutters consistently which immediately changed the pace of the game.

The Blue Devils were controlling the pace and keeping Kentucky from getting out in transition. After starting 5-for-5 from three point range, the Wildcats finished the half 2-for-11 thanks to the Blue Devil defense.

This ball pressure from Duke also allowed them to push out in transition and force turnovers while playing clean offense themselves. Duke forced seven turnovers while committing just one itself and is +11 in points off turnovers tonight.

Duke struggled to get outside shots to fall and transitioned into getting the ball into the post early in the shot clock to generate offense. Cooper Flagg began the offensive rhythm for Duke, taking the ball and creating his own look in different ways on multiple possessions to either get to the foul line or find easy looks before the UK defense could get set.

Flagg finished the half tied for a game-high in points with fellow Duke freshman Kon Knueppel. Both players have 12. Flagg added on 4 rebounds and Knueppel added an assist and two steals to his first half tally.

Tyrese Proctor was another huge offensive spark for Duke when they needed it most. Proctor ran off screens well and did a great job of using his dribble to get himself open, attacking from multiple spots on the court. Proctor finished the half with 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting and 2-for-4 shooting from three.

Duke is just 3-for-12 as a team from three point range, but found early paint touches and transition offense to still put up a high number in the first half and outdo Kentucky's early onslaught from three.

The Blue Devils are up 28-6 in points in the paint and the Blue Devils have done a great job taking UK's Amari Williams out of the inside. Williams has eight points, but is just 2-for-8 from the field. Only four of Kentucky's eleven made field goals in the first half came from inside the three point line.

Overall, Duke recovered in a great way after getting sort of smacked in the face in the first few minutes of the half. If the Blue Devils can keep ball pressure up and keep the Wildcats out of transition, they will have a great chance to leave Atlanta with a victory tonight.