No. 12 Duke scores 70 in first half of 105-66 rout of Elon

AP

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Freshman Brandon Ingram matched a season high with 26 points, and No. 12 Duke routed Elon 105-66 on Monday night.

Ingram had 11 rebounds while freshman Luke Kennard added 18 points and Grayson Allen and Matt Jones had 17 apiece for the Blue Devils (10-2).

They shot 58 percent in the first half, led by 30 points after just over 13 minutes and put up 70 points at halftime — just the third time in school history they scored that many in a half — while reaching 100 for the second time this season.

It added up to an easy win in the first leg of a two-games-in-48-hours stretch before they start Atlantic Coast Conference play on Saturday at Boston College.

Tanner Samson had 17 points to lead Elon (9-4), which never led, shot 38 percent and had its six-game winning streak snapped.

Marshall Plumlee had 10 points and 11 rebounds, and Derryck Thornton finished with 12 points for Duke.

The Blue Devils had nine days to digest their 77-75 overtime loss to Utah and to work on filling the void left by injured forward Amile Jefferson, who is out with indefinitely with a broken right foot. Jefferson was in a walking boot Monday night instead of a hard cast, but was once again on crutches.

Allen, who managed just seven points on 3-of-18 shooting against the Utes while playing with the flu, was clearly back to full health in this one. Ingram was clicking again, too, reaching the 20-point mark for the fourth time in five games — the exception being a 15-point game against Utah.

Kennard, the bright spot of that loss, picked up right where he left off at Madison Square Garden. The freshman, who had 24 in that game, hit three 3s in 3 minutes during the 33-6 run midway through the half that put Duke in total control. Jones hit a layup just before the buzzer for the 70th point.

TIP-INS

Elon: The Phoenix have not beaten a current member of the ACC since 2005, when they won at Clemson. They are 0-23 against Top 25 teams since moving to Division I, and are 0-2 against them this season, also falling at then-No. 24 Michigan last month.

Duke: The only other 70-point halves in program history came in 1965 against Virginia (72) and in 1989 against Harvard (72). Duke's previous season high for scoring in a half was 59 points last month against Bryant — but the Blue Devils surpassed that in this one before the final media timeout of the first half.

UP NEXT

Elon hosts Northeastern on Thursday.

Duke hosts Long Beach State on Wednesday.

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