DURHAM, N.C. _ Even after Duke won its initial preseason exhibition last Saturday, coach Mike Krzyzewski lamented his team's poor perimeter shooting.
In Wednesday night's final exhibition prior to opening the regular season, Matthew Hurt and Joey Baker saw to it that complaint wouldn't be repeated.
Baker nailed six 3-pointers and Hurt, shooting from all over the court, made 9 of 13 shots overall as the No. 4-ranked Blue Devils routed Fort Valley State, 126-57, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
With a season-opening game with No. 3 Kansas looming Tuesday night in the Champions Classic at New York's Madison Square Garden, Duke looked more ready for that kind of challenge than it did in beating Northwest Missouri State, 69-63, on Saturday.
Northwest Missouri State is the reigning NCAA Division II champion with an experienced roster back. Still, Duke made only 2 of 16 3-pointers while shooting 42.2% overall in that closer-than-expected win.
Another Division II opponent, Fort Valley State went 7-22 last season and was quickly overwhelmed by Duke.
With the Blue Devils hounding the Wildcats into turnovers and mistakes with their full-court pressure, Baker and Hurt delivered a far better performance on the offensive end for Duke.
A 6-7 sophomore who played in four games last season, Baker led the Blue Devils with 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He hit his first four 3-point shots and finished the night having made six of eight.
Hurt, a 6-9, 215 pound freshman forward, added 19 points with three rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot.
In all, six different Duke players sank 3-pointers as the Blue Devils made 13 of 28 from behind the deeper arc.
Defensively, the Blue Devils recorded 24 steals as Fort Valley State turned the ball over 36 times.
Starting guards Tre Jones and Jordan Goldwire spearheaded the full-court pressure. Goldwire had five steals while Jones finished with three.
