The Duke basketball program kicked off its 2025-26 season with a 75-60 victory over Texas in the first annual Dick Vitale Invitational. After rebounding became the Achilles' heel for the Blue Devils throughout the entirety of the first half, controlling the glass across the final 20 minutes became likely the biggest reason Duke was able to secure a win. The Blue Devils were dominated on the glass in the first half by the Longhorns, much to the confusion of many fans, given how dominant Duke was in the rebounding margin across its two exhibition games. Duke has surged in the second half in both of its exhibition matchups as well as its regular season opener against Texas, but early struggles might not be so easy to get away with down the road.
Duke basketball controls the glass in the second half to take down Texas in regular season opener
It was head-scratching to see Duke dominated on the glass, but Texas won the physicality battle across the opening 20 minutes, and used second and third chance opportunities to take a 33-32 lead heading into the halftime break.
In the first half, Texas outrebounded Duke 25-15 and 12-6 on the offensive side. The Blue Devils played two halves of great defense, but couldn't close possessions out with rebounding early on, which kept Texas in the contest.
However, Jon Scheyer let his guys know the issue in the halftime locker room, and the Blue Devils were much more assertive on the glass across the second 20 minutes. Duke outrebounded Texas 22-16 overall in the second half, and that was all it really took for the Blue Devils to put the game out of reach with how elite they were defensively all game long.
Texas found rhythm early by getting out in transition before Duke could get set defensively. But as the game went on, the Blue Devils gave no transition opportunities to the Longhorns, especially in the second half. It's become clear that this year's Duke defense in the half court can be just as dominant as it was last year, as the Blue Devils completely took away any lanes to the basket while making every Texas shot difficult.
Duke had its miscues offensively, but its defensive tenacity was enough to secure a comfortable win once the team controlled the rebounding margin. The Blue Devils outscored Texas 43-27 in the second half to begin the season 1-0.