NEW YORK _ Duke showed glimpses of the team it's longed to be all season with a 84-74 victory over No. 21 Florida on Tuesday in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.
No one played a full 20-minute half. Jayson Tatum, in the freshman's second game of the season, added to the No. 5 Blue Devils' transition game. Amile Jefferson and Luke Kennard carried them to their seventh straight victory. Jefferson put up his fifth double-double of the season with 24 points and 15 rebounds. His first-half production was 1.05 points a minute.
As good as Duke (9-1) looked against Florida (7-2), it was still only that: a glimpse.
Grayson Allen is still not 100 percent, but he made several immaculate passes in lieu of being explosive. He's been battling turf toe since the last time Duke played at MSG, a last-second 75-77 loss to Kansas on Nov. 15. Allen led the game with eight assists; he had six points.
Also, Marques Bolden, playing two minutes in the second game of his college career, picked up two quick fouls early and was pulled in favor of Chase Jeter.
Duke shared the ball well, 16 assists to Florida's 10, in a game that started off back and forth. The Blue Devils rallied with 4:32 left in the first half when Kennard made three good passes on a possession that ended with a Jefferson dunk, giving them a 29-28 lead.
Tatum even showed maturity on that play, which started with one of his eight defensive rebounds; all his boards came on that end. He pushed the ball up, stopping at the top of the key just to see what was available. On Saturday, the wing probably would have went for the basket.
Tatum passed up a few looks to pass and finished with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, knocking down a jumper to give Duke a 12-point lead at 5:36 in the second half.
Kennard, who just came off a career night against Maine, scored 29 points against the Gators, the engine for Duke throughout the night. When he wasn't making 3-pointers or flexing his mid-range game or finishing spin moves with his off hand, he was setting up his teammates. He only finished with three assists, but the sophomore guard really drove Duke's ball movement.
