DURHAM, N.C. (AP) Trevon Duval kept getting the ball to his teammates, and they kept scoring with it. It added up to a record-setting performance for top-ranked Duke.
The freshman point guard had 11 of the Blue Devils’ school-record 34 assists in a 124-67 rout of St. Francis (Pa.) on Tuesday night.
”It shows that we’re sharing the ball more, we’re playing more as a team, trying to find each other,” Duval said. ”And it also means guys are making shots.”
Freshman Marvin Bagley III had 21 points and 11 rebounds, and Duke scored 71 points in the first half – just the fourth 70-point half in program history.
Marques Bolden had 17 points and 10 rebounds, Wendell Carter Jr. had 15 points and Gary Trent Jr. and Grayson Allen both finished with 14 points for the Blue Devils (11-0).
They dominated every line in the box score. In addition to the assist total that broke the record of 33 set against Miami in 1986, Duke shot 60 percent and built a 61-25 rebounding advantage over a St. Francis team that has only one player taller than 6-foot-9.
”No one got into their own game,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ”They were into our game.”
The Blue Devils needed just over 10 minutes to build a 30-point lead and hit the 100-point mark on Bagley’s layup with 8 1/2 minutes remaining.
Three players – Andre Wolford, Jamaal King and Keith Braxton – scored 13 points each for the Red Flash (3-5), who have lost three of four.
BIG PICTURE
St. Francis: This was just the second time in school history that the Red Flash played No. 1, and this one didn’t go any better than it did in 1974 when Adrian Dantley’s Notre Dame team won by 20. They also took on their second Atlantic Coast Conference opponent of the season. They kept it reasonably close against Louisville, losing by 12 last month, but just didn’t have the size to handle Bagley or Carter in this one.
”Certainly not the outcome or the score differential that we had hoped,” coach Rob Krimmel said. ”Certainly it was a daunting task to be able to keep their post players and their size away from the rim, and they certainly willed their style early in the game, and then combined with some very good outside shooting – a team like that becomes very, very … difficult to guard when they’re clicking on all cylinders.”
Duke: Maybe Duke doesn’t need a break after all. This was Duke’s 11th game in the first 26 days of the regular season, a run that included a cross-country trip to Portland, Oregon, for the PK80. But things are about to slow down. After the Blue Devils begin ACC play Saturday at Boston College, they’ll play just two more games before January.
”We’re 11-0,” Krzyzewski said. ”Now, we’re 0 and 0.”
ALMOST HISTORY
The Blue Devils were one point shy of matching the school record of 72 points in a half, first accomplished against Virginia in 1965 and equaled against Harvard in 1989. Duke had a chance to claim the mark for itself but Javin DeLaurier missed a runner a couple of seconds before the halftime buzzer.
THEY SAID IT
The Cameron Crazies’ taunting game seems ready for the higher-stakes conference season, too. With the Red Flash trailing 37-9 midway through the first half, the Duke fans chanted ”10 minutes, nine points.” And after Deivydas Kuzavas finally hit a bucket to make it 37-11, their taunt changed to ”double digits.”
UP NEXT
St. Francis: Visits Niagara on Saturday.
Duke: Begins ACC play Saturday at Boston College.
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