Ninth-ranked Duke Blue Devils Beat the Army Black Knights 82-56 in Friday night’s home opener. This is the first time they were in front of their home crowd, known as the “Cameron Crazies” in regular-season action in more than twenty months.
Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr. had an outstanding game with a triple-double, 19 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Freshman Paolo Banchero contributed 18 points.
The Blue Devils, who have a 2-0 record, got a win on Tuesday night in the season opener against No. 10 Kentucky Wild Cats at Madison Square Garden in New York City. That was Hall of Fame coach Mike Kryzweski’s first game of his farewell season. He plans to retire and hand over the coaching reins to associate head coach Jon Scheyer.
Duke got out to an early 10-0 lead and they never looked back. They had trouble extending the lead on the Black Knights (1-1) before taking total control late in the game.
Jalen Rucker had a team high 19 points to lead the way for Army. They answered with nine straight points to answer Duke’s early onslaught and trailed by a margin of seven and 15 points, before Duke blew the game open beyond 20 points in the final five minutes of regulation.
Let’s take a look at the big scope of the game.
Picked to finish in fourth place in the Patriots League, Army hung tough with Duke for the majority of the game. They halted Duke’s mini-runs, but they had trouble trimming the lead down after halftime. The Black Knights shot 39% from the field and made an anemic 5-of-22 from beyond the arc. They also did not help themselves by committing 21 turnovers that led to 27 points for Duke.
Banchero had a strong home debut for the Blue Devils with a double-double, 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Moore’s performance was a good sign, considering he had a lot of struggles last season.
The night as a whole was more about Duke and their longstanding home court advantage after a season struggling without it. It also marked the start of a year-long tribute in Durham, North Carolina to Coach K, who was facing his alma matar. He led Army before coming to Duke in 1980.
Army faces Hartford on Saturday as part of the Duke Veterans Day Weekend Showcase. Duke host Campbell on Saturday as host of the same tournament.
