University of Delaware Athletics
No. 2 Duke Too Much for Blue Hens as Delaware Falls 88-50 (Dec. 1, 2012)
12/1/2012 4:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
No. 2 Duke Too Much for Delaware as Blue Hens Fall 88-50 in Non-League Action
December 1, 2012
Photos Courtesy of Mark Campbell_lg.jpg)
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DURHAM, N.C. -- The second-ranked Duke men's basketball team used an early 15-0 run and led by double figures the rest of the way as the Blue Devils posted an 88-50 victory over the University of Delaware Saturday afternoon at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Undefeated Duke won its 98th consecutive non-conference home game dating back to 2000, improving to 8-0 on the season.
Delaware, which played its third straight game without Jarvis Threatt, who is nursing an abdominal injury, dropped its fifth consecutive game while falling to 2-6 on the campaign.
Duke was the highest ranked opponent Delaware has ever faced, as the Blue Hens fell to 0-16 all-time against Top 10 ranked teams and 0-28 against Top 25 opponents.
Blue Hen junior Devon Saddler (top right), the leading scorer in the CAA, scored 23 points to go with a season-high nine rebounds as he eclipsed the 20-point mark for the fourth time in the last five games. Kyle Anderson (below left) was the second leading scorer for Delaware with 10 points, while junior Carl Baptiste tied his season-high with nine boards.
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“This is a great environment here at Cameron, and when we play conference games at Old Dominion, George Mason, and Drexel, our guys will not be intimidated,” said seventh-year Delaware head coach Monté Ross. “We have put our guys in difficult situations with our non-conference schedule this year, but they are mentally strong and will be better off for it in the long run.”
Delaware struggled from the field throughout the contest, shooting just 27.7 percent, including a 2 of 14 performance from behind the arc. The Hens also had just three assists during the contest.
Mason Plumlee recorded a double-double with 18 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Duke, which shot 52.2 percent from the field and handed out 23 assists on the afternoon. Ryan Kelly also scored 18 points for the Blue Devils, while Rasheed Sulaimon added 14 points and six assists.
Alex Murphy came off the bench to post 10 points and seven rebounds, while Amile Jefferson had 12 points and Tyler Thornton handed out 10 assists. Duke played without its second leading scorer Seth Curry, who missed the game with an ankle injury.
After Duke jumped out to a 9-2 lead, an Anderson three-pointer and a Terrell Rogers jumper brought Delaware within 10-7 at the 15:51 mark of the opening half. However the Blue Devils quickly answered with a decisive 15-0 run, taking a 25-7 advantage on a free throw by Plumlee.
Meanwhile Delaware misfired on its next 11 field goal attempts before Josh Brinkley buried a baseline jumper to make it 25-9 at the 8:56 mark. The Duke lead was 20 before Saddler scored his first basket on a runner in the paint to cut the Blue Devils' margin to 29-11 with seven minutes to play in the period.
But Duke would continue to pad the advantage, going up 37-13 on a Plumlee free throw at the 3:25 mark. The lead grew to as much as 26 in the first half, but Saddler converted a three-point play with 26 seconds left as the Blue Devils took a 42-19 cushion into the half.
The Blue Devils shot 51.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes on 16 of 31 shooting, although Duke was just 3 of 13 from behind the arc. On the other hand, Delaware went just 7 of 29 from the field for a 24.1 percentage, and only hit 1 of 6 from long range.
Early in the second half Duke hit 5 of 6 field goal attempts to take a 55-26 lead on a Jefferson basket with 15:34 remaining, while a 12-0 Blue Devils spurt made it a 67-29 game with 11:17 to play. The lead grew to as much as 85-39 on a Sulaimon jumper with 3:29 to play, before Delaware scored 12 of the final 15 points of the contest.
The Blue Hens' 38-point defeat was the program's largest since a 95-56 setback to No. 11 Purdue in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Hens, who have opened the season with eight consecutive games outside of Newark, play their home opener on Tuesday when Delaware hosts Radford at 7 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center.
