DURHAM – Led by a 20-point, 12-rebound double-double from Ryan Young, 17 points from Jaylen Blakes and a career-high 16 points from Dariq Whitehead,No. 17 Duke (11-3, 2-1) closed out 2022 with a 86-67 victory over Florida State (4-11, 2-2) on Saturday afternoon.
Playing in his 100th career game, Young became the sixth Blue Devil all-time to have a 20-point game without missing a shot after going 7-for-7 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Blakes poured in 17 points, matching his career high that he had set in Duke’s previous game against Wake Forest on Dec. 20. The sophomore guard went 4-for-6 from beyond the arc to set a new career-high in three-pointers made and finished 6-of-11 overall from the field. Whitehead tallied his second straight game of scoring 15 or more with his 16 points on Saturday and has set a career-high in points in each of his last two games played.
The 46 bench points by the Blue Devils were the most in an ACC game since Feb. 20, 2005, when they also scored 46 against Wake Forest in a 102-92 victory. The 53.5% of total points scored by Duke’s bench on Saturday was the third-most in an ACC game, behind 53.9% against Florida State on Jan. 25, 2014 and 54.1% against Miami on Feb. 5, 2012.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Jaylen Blakes, making the first start of his career, scored the first points of the afternoon for Duke with a layup just over two minutes into the game.
- Blakes and Ryan Young combined to score the first 14 points of the game and the Blue Devils held a slight lead, 14-11, at the under-12 media timeout.
- Three-pointers by Blakes and Jeremy Roach helped Duke establish its first double-digit lead of the day, 24-13, with just over eight minutes remaining in the first half.
- The Blue Devils closed the frame on a 7-0 run and made five of their final seven shots to take a 42-25 lead into the break. The 42 points tied for the second-most points scored in a first half by Duke.
- The visitors used a 6-0 run early in the second half to draw within 12 points, 47-35.
- Dariq Whitehead reached double figures for the second time in his Duke career with a step-back three-pointer to open up Duke’s edge to 54-38.
- Young logged his second double-double in a Duke uniform with his tenth rebound at the 5:33 mark and proceeded to reach the 20-point mark with two made free throws.
- A 14-1 run over the span of four and a half minutes helped the Blue Devil take hold of an 81-56 lead at the final media timeout of the day.
NOTES
- The game was the 54th in the series versus Florida State, with Duke now leading 43-11. In games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the series now favors Duke, 24-2.
- Duke is now 14-3 all-time when playing on New Year’s Eve.
- Duke’s 46 bench points were its most in an ACC game since 46 vs. Wake Forest (2/20/05) – its just the eighth time on record where Duke scored 46+ bench points in an ACC game. The program record is 51 vs. Clemson (2/1/88).
- The bench accounted for 53.5% of Duke’s points – the third highest all time by Duke in an ACC game.
- Florida State became the 13th Duke opponent in 14 games this season to be held below their season scoring average – scored 67 and were averaging 68.1.
- Eleven of Duke’s first 14 opponents this season have failed to score 70+ points.
- Duke has now connected on at least one three-point field goal in 1,167 consecutive games – the nation’s second longest active streak.
- Graduate Ryan Young did not miss a shot while scoring 20 points – 7-of-7 field goals, 6-of-6 free throws. He becomes just the sixth Duke player all-time to score 20+ points on 100 percent shooting. The last to do it was Ryan Kelly at Wake Forest on 1/22/11 – 6-of-6 field goals, 4-of-4 three-point fields and 4-of-4 free throws.
- Young recorded his fifth career double-double (second this season) with 20 points and 12 rebounds. It was Duke’s first 20-10 game since Pablo Banchero had 20 and 10 vs. North Carolina (4/2/22).
- By going 6-of-6 at the free throw line, Young has now made 18 consecutive free throws – the team’s longest streak this season.
- Blakes matched his career high with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a career-best 4-of-6 from three-point range. He also scored 17 points in his last game at Wake Forest.
- Freshman Dariq Whitehead scored a career-high 16 points. He has set a new career high for points in each of his last two games – had 15 vs. UMES on 12/10.
QUOTES
- “It was a good win for us, really proud of the response we had. We played one game in 20 days, we felt like, all right, here’s another new season for us and fully healthy, thought really everybody that played stepped up and made some big time plays in key moments. We had a few lineups on the court, we just had a roll and went with it, but I thought our defense was back to where we needed to be. Offensively we really shared the ball well. Ryan Young obviously a big-time night, not missing a field goal, not missing a free throw. Just his rebounding, you feel like when a shot’s taken he’s going to come up with the ball.” — head coach Jon Scheyer
- “We knew that there was going to be an opportunity today with some mismatches in the post where [Florida State was] going to have a smaller guard switched onto me or whoever gets the ball – Flip [Kyle Filipowski] or Dereck [Lively II]. We knew that they would probably be either sending a double team or crowding the paint up so we were going to be able to pass out of there. And that’s a real positive and an advantage I think our bigs can bring – myself, Flip’s a really good passer, and Dereck’s a really good passer out of the post. That’s something that really, I think, can hurt teams, when we throw the ball in and it’s not just a one-on-one game there.” — graduate Ryan Young
NEXT GAME
- Duke is at NC State on Wednesday, Jan. 4. The game tips at 7 p.m. at PNC Arena on ACC Network.
