After a week off it would’ve been predictable for the Duke basketball team to show some rust against George Mason and it was noticeable throughout the game.
The Blue Devils only mustered 25 points in the first half while shooting just 9-of-33 but its defense remained stout, only conceding 16 points to the Patriots and holding them to 21.4-percent shooting.
“What happens is, when you play 10 games in a month -- especially with a younger team -- you lose some of the habits, or some of the automatics that we should have. We just had to get back to the basics,” Jon Scheyer said following the game.
No. 5 Duke (9-2, 1-0 ACC) was able to find its footing during the second half, putting 43 points on the board on 52-percent shooting, winning 68-47.
The turnaround in its game is directly correlated to Cooper Flagg’s performance, who shot 2-of-11 in the first half before connecting on 5-of-9 attempts in the second half. He finished with 24 points and nine rebounds and was the only Duke player to reach double figures in the game.
“I loved Cooper’s aggressiveness,” Scheyer said. “I thought Cooper was really aggressive, putting pressure on the defense. I think for many young guys, you get caught up in percentages and numbers sometimes. And for him, he was a warrior out there, with 24 , nine , and four .”
Still, George Mason (7-4) was a team that caused trouble for most of its opponents, playing Marquette tough until the final minutes and its only other losses coming by a point against Central Michigan and a one-point, double overtime loss on the road against East Carolina.
“I think that comes with his competitive spirit and being in attack mode. We need him that way. We have to help him be that way all the time,” the Duke head coach added on Flagg.
It was the last non-conference game for the Blue Devils until they travel to New York City for a matchup against Illinois in late February. Duke will go back on the road for an ACC matchup on Saturday (12:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network) against Georgia Tech (4-6, 0-1 ACC).