Courtesy GoDuke.com
DURHAM – Paced by a career-high 21 points from Jared McCain, the Duke men’s basketball team finished with four in double-figures and defeated Charlotte, 80-56, on Saturday afternoon. McCain was joined in double-figures by Jeremy Roach, Jaylen Blakes and Mark Mitchell, who scored 18, 15 and 12, respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Duke opened the game with a stop and score, capped off by a three-pointer by Jared McCain. Jeremy Roach and Mark Mitchell got in on the scoring and Duke held a three-point lead, 9-6, at the first media timeout of the contest.
- A fast-break dunk by Jaylen Blakes pushed Duke’s lead to 14-9 with just over 14 minutes remaining in the first half. Back-to-back three-pointers by Roach and Blakes pushed the Blue Devils’ scoring run to eight straight, gave Duke its first double-digit lead of the afternoon and forced a Charlotte timeout.
- McCain connected on two straight contested shots in the paint, giving the freshman nine early points and the Blue Devils a 16-point advantage, 31-15. McCain reached double-figures on the next possession with a three-pointer, before fast-break buckets by Caleb Foster, Mitchell and Kyle Filipowski extended Duke’s lead to 40-17 with just over four minutes remaining before halftime.
- An 18-point halftime lead, 45-27, quickly reached 23 points via five straight points by McCain to open the second half. The Sacramento, Calif., native eclipsed 20 points for the first time in his career a few possessions later, laying in his 21st point of the afternoon with 16:35 on the clock.
- The 49ers drew within 17, 55-38, at the first media timeout of the second half. The scoring run by the visitors stretched to 11 straight and made it an 11-point game, 55-44, at the 14-minute mark. A three-pointer by Blakes gave the junior a season-high 12 points and placed Duke ahead, 62-48.
- Duke’s defense held Charlotte without a made field goal for over six minutes. The 49ers snapped the drought via a fast-break layup with seven minutes remaining, making it a 66-51 contest. The Blue Devils closed the game on 14-5 run, capping off the 80-56 victory.
NOTES
- Duke scored 45 first-half points, the most it has scored in a first half this season – surpassing the 44 it posted against Bucknell on Nov. 17.
- The Blue Devils shot 15-of-26 (.577) from the field in the opening frame – the second-best percentage from the field in a first half this season, trailing only the Dartmouth game, when the Blue Devils shot 17-of-29 (.586).
- A 5-of-9 (.556) showing from beyond the arc in the first half marked Duke’s best first-half percentage from deep.
- The 10-of-18 (.556) effort on 3-pointers in the full 40 minutes is a season-best for Duke.
- Duke’s defense held Charlotte to 56 points, 12.3 points below its season scoring average of 68.3. The Blue Devils have now held each of their nine opponents below their respective scoring average.
- Duke out-rebounded the 49ers, 36-25, for the third game this season the Blue Devils have bettered their opponent on the glass by 10 or more.
- Saturday afternoon marked the 512th consecutive game at Cameron Indoor Stadium that was sold out. The last time Duke did not have a sellout at home was on Nov. 6, 1990, against Boston College.
- The streak is the longest current (by time) in either men’s college basketball or the NBA. • Duke has now connected on at least one three-pointer in 1,198 straight games, the second-longest streak nationally.
- Jared McCain scored a career-high 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting. The freshman is the fifth Blue Devil overall to score 20+ points this season, but the first freshman to do so – joining Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach, Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor.
- Jaylen Blakes scored a season-high 15 points, shooting 5-of-5 from the field, including 3-of-3 from beyond the arc, and 2-of-2 from the free-throw line.
- Kyle Filipowski grabbed 13 rebounds, his third double-digit boards effort in the last four games and the 19th of his career. The Blue Devils are 15-4 when Filipowski collects 10 rebounds or more.
- The sophomore has finished with 14, 10, nine and 13 rebounds, an average of 11.5 caroms across those four games.
- Jeremy Roach ended the contest 3-of-5 from long range – his 11th career game with three or more successful 3- pointers. Duke is now 10-2 all-time when Roach makes three or more three-pointers.
- Mark Mitchell logged 12 points on 2-of-5 shooting from the floor and 8-of-12 from the charity stripe. The Blue Devils are now 19-2 when Mitchell scores 10 or more points.
QUOTES
- “I’m proud of the response that our team had. Our program is about, not necessarily being perfect, but it is about competition. It’s about competing. It’s about responding. In the last two games last week, we weren’t good enough; that means all of us coaches, players, that includes everybody, staff. So, for us, this week was about getting back to work, blocking out anything else outside of our locker room, and taking accountability for what we all have to do better. I thought we had the best week of practice we have had so far this year. The competition was great; going at each other, making each other better” — head coach Jon Scheyer
- “I was just feeding off my teammates’ energy and feeding off the Cameron energy. My teammates found me in the right spot and I made the shots, but I think it always starts with defense and defense will translate to offense. That’s something that I try to bring day in and day out, and I think the way the starters set the tone this game just made it a lot easier for me to come in and just make shots.” — Duke junior Jaylen Blakes
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