In a season full of impressive victories for the Duke basketball team, Saturday night at Madison Square Garden might have been its most impressive.
The No. 3 Blue Devils fired on all cylinders against Illinois, winning 110-67.
It was the largest margin of victory for the program ever at Madison Square Garden and the worst loss the Illini has ever sustained.
The tone was set from Duke’s first offensive possession which left Sion James open for a 3-pointer and the Blue Devils (24-3, 15-1 ACC) would never surrender its lead. Seven different players scored for Duke in the first half, led by 10 points from both Tyrese Proctor and Isaiah Evans.
Duke’s defensive effort was confusing.
Illinois (17-11, 9-8 Big Ten) was 0-for-16 from 3-point range but 15-of-18 from 2-point range yet still trailed by 17 points, 54-37, at halftime. The start to the second half decided the game within the first three minutes as the Blue Devils opened the half on a 9-0 run behind Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel.
The Illini finished 2-of-26 from 3-point range while Duke shot 55.6-percent from the floor and 52.5-percent from 3-point range.
Flagg battled foul trouble in the first half and only scored six points on 1-of-4 shooting but came alive in the second half, scoring 10 points and bringing The Garden crowd to its feet with two breakaway dunks.
The freshman superstar ended his New York City debut with 16 points, seven rebounds, and five assists.
Duke saw seven different players score at least 10 points, the most in a game for the program since 2017.
Evans, who logged just 18 minutes, led all scorers with 17 points.
Illinois has now lost three games in a row by double figures as it returns to Big Ten action while Duke will hop back into ACC play on Tuesday night (7:00 p.m. ET, ESPN) when traveling to Miami (6-21, 2-14 ACC).