The Duke Blue Devils (13-1) traveled to the Watsco Center and left with a victory 95-62 over the Miami Hurricanes (9-4). This game was tight mid-way through the first half before Duke took over. Vernon Carey led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds. Cassius Stanley had a huge first-half first Duke scoring sixteen, while Matthew Hurt added 13 points of his own. Miami was led by Sam Waardenburg and Kameron McGusty, who both had 12 points each. So what went right for Duke on the road? And what did Miami struggle to do effectively? And where do both teams go from here?

Duke 1st Half

Cassius Got Hot: Duke freshman Cassius Stanley had himself one heck of a first half in this game. Cassius scored 16 points on 6/7 shooting, including 2/2 from the three-point line. Throw in two assists, two rebounds, one steal, and no turnovers and he was nearly flawless. If he plays like this all year Duke could be nearly unstoppable. Owned The Boards & Dimes: The Blue Devils moved the ball and rebounded well. They finished the half with 23 rebounds to 16 for Miami. Duke also had 12 assists to Miami’s three. Being +7 and +9 in those categories led to Duke building a double-digit lead. Too Many Turnovers: Taking care of the ball was not a priority for Duke in the first half. Duke on the year averaged just 13 turnovers a game coming into this game. They had eight in the first half alone, including 2 from starting point guard Tre Jones. Duke knew they had to play a much cleaner game, despite shooting an outstanding 62% from the field.

Miami 1st Half

McGusty Played Solid: Kameron McGusty had a solid first half at home. He led Miami in scoring with 10 points on 3/5 shooting. While he turned it over twice and had two fouls, he was still solid. He also hit one of only two threes for the Hurricanes. Miami knew he had to do much of the same in the second half. Held Hurt In Check: Coming off a career-high 25 points, Miami knew that had to keep Matthew Hurt off the score sheet. Outside of his buzzer-beater three to end the first half they did so. He had just seven points on 3/5 shooting, which shows they did not let him get hot. Great job defensively on the talented freshman Poor Three-Point Shooting: Miami shot the ball very poorly from behind the arc in the first half of this game. They attempted eight shots, only hitting two of them. In order to defeat a team of Duke’s caliber, they had to improve on that effort. Even an additional three or two could have kept this one within striking distance.

Halftime Score Duke 50 Miami 36

Duke 2nd Half

Freshmen Stepped Up: The Duke freshmen were outstanding all night. Duke even had more points in the paint then Miami had points total late in the second half. This was largely due to Vernon Carey Jr, Matthew Hurt and Cassius Stanley getting to the rim. This team didn’t need to shoot threes since the freshmen were paint monsters. Solid Defense: The Blue Devils gave up 36 points in the first half and locked things down in the second half. They gave up just 26 second-half points as Duke locked them down. They held both starting guards and center to just eight points each. Chris Lykes shot just 2/15 for the game as Tre Jones and Cassius Stanley hassled him all night long. Tre Played Poorly: While the Duke freshmen were outstanding, their floor general struggled all night. Tre finished with just nine points and five assists, both well below his season average. He also had three turnovers, which is on par with his season average. Tre will need to take care of the ball much better moving forward if Duke wants to go far.

Miami 2nd Half

Shot Free Throws Well: The Hurricanes made Duke pay when they went to the free-throw line. They attempted 18 free throws and made 14 of them. They may have shot just 40% as a team tonight, but Miami did not struggle from the line. 78% is an average that most teams would be incredibly happy with, even in a blowout loss. Chris Lykes Was Awful: I mean it is tough to mince words here, but Chris Lykes shot abysmally tonight. He finished with eight points but attempted 15 field goals. The team hit zero threes in the second half and Chris went 0/3 from three in the game. Tough night for him that is for sure. More Turnovers For Miami: There were very little positive points to make about Miami’s second half. They even had more turnovers, as they had six in the first half and eight in the second. Miami just could not hang with the Blue Devils and turnovers killed them.

Final Score Duke 95 Miami 62

Up Next For Both Teams

Duke will be headed on the road once again to take on the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (7-7) The Yellow Jackets dismantled the North Carolina Tar Heels on the road. Georgia Tech may be .500, but they will be coming in riding a huge high. This could be a trap game for Duke. Miami on the other hand now has to travel to Louisville. The Cardinals just lost to Florida State and will be looking to avenge that loss. If Miami loses that game as well they could be nearing a point of no return early in ACC play.

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