DURHAM, N.C. — On a night when No. 2 Duke showed flashes of brilliance and stretches of mediocre play, Wendell Moore’s steady hand led the Blue Devils to a win nevertheless.
A junior guard and team captain, Moore scored 21 points as the Blue Devils topped Appalachian State, 92-67, Thursday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Moore’s output marked the fourth time in the last six games he’s reached the 20-point plateau. Over the last two seasons, he never scored 20 points or more in consecutive games.
Moore also had six assists to tie Jeremy Roach for the team lead
Paolo Banchero added 16 points, while Trevor Keels and AJ Griffin each scored 11 for Duke (9-1). Roach scored 10 points, giving Duke five players in double-figures.
The Blue Devils shot 56.9% from the field, including making 15 of 30 3-pointers (50%).
Appalachian State (6-6), an NCAA tournament team last season, trailed 50-37 at halftime but cut Duke’s lead to 55-50 with 16:18 to play. But the Blue Devils used a 9-0 run to push their lead into double-digits and were never challenged again.
Duke has a punch few can handle
Though the Blue Devils struggled to shake the Mountaineers most of the first half, it only took a 90-second burst of talent for Duke to finally create some separation.
The Blue Devils clung to a 34-33 lead before Wendell Moore drilled a 3-pointer with 3:59 to play in the half that ignited a 10-0 Duke run. After a missed 3-point attempt by App’s Michael Almonacy, Paolo Banchero rebounded to start a break. Trevor Keels found Mark Williams open under the basket and the 7-1 sophomore dunked at 3:20.
Ten second later, App’s Justin Forrest thought he had a path to the basket for a layup. But Williams rejected the shot. Wendell Moore grabbed the rebound and dribbled to the basket for an emphatic one-handed dunk.
App tried to slow the rush with a timeout. But Banchero found space to launch a 3-pointer in a half-court set that swished through the net with 2:29 to go until halftime, giving Duke a 44-33 lead.
That surge allowed Duke to close the half on a 16-4 run to lead 50-37 at intermission.
The Blue Devils did it again early in the second half after App State trimmed the Blue Devils lead to 55-50 with 16:18 to play. Griffin’s 3-pointer with 16:04 started a 9-0 run that lasted just 55 seconds. Jeremy Roach and Wendell Moore also had 3-pointers as the Blue Devils took a 64-50 lead.
Theo John looked good in return
The Blue Devils blasted South Carolina State ,103-62, on Tuesday night but did so without reserve center Theo John, who missed the game with back tightness.
The 6-9, 242-pound John returned for the Appalachian State game, making his first appearance with 9:20 left in the first half. He played five minutes, producing six points with two rebounds at a time when the Blue Devils were struggling to pull away from the Mountaineers.
John played 14 minutes in the game, scoring six points with three rebounds.
Duke’s depth impressed
Krzyzewski used eight players in the first half and each of them scored at least two points.
AJ Griffin and Joey Baker were the first two off the bench and they played well in the first half. Griffin scored eight points while Baker added five. Neither committed a turnover. Theo John scored six points in the first half.
For the game, Duke received 28 points from its bench players, with Griffin leading the way with 11 points.
Offensive rebounds are hurting Duke
South Carolina State grabbed 21 rebounds while suffering a lopsided 103-62 loss to Duke on Tuesday night. That allowed the Bulldogs to win the rebounding battle 42-39. The Blue Devils won handily, but Krzyzewski didn’t like how the team leaked out early to get into transition but forgot to corral defensive rebounds.
On Tuesday night, Appalachian State stayed within striking distance of the Blue Devils into the early stages of the second half for the same reason. The Mountaineers snared seven offensive rebounds in the first half and two more of them led to five second-chance points after halftime that left them trailing by just five points with 17:15 to play.
At that point, with Duke up 53-48, App had scored 15 second-chance points. The Mountaineers finished with 13 offensive rebounds
Like Tuesday night, the Blue Devils pulled away to win again. But that part of Duke’s game needs to be shored up.
