Duke Keeps Rolling as they Beat Indiana in the BIG TEN/ACC Challenge.
Wednesday night Duke had its first “true” road game at Assembly Hall against Indiana. Duke was coming into the game off their first PK80 Championship during Thanksgiving break. This was the ninth time these two teams have competed against each other in the past. This was Dukes second time in Bloomington since 2005 when they defeated Indiana 75-67.
This was going to be the freshman’s first tough test going up against an opponent in a hostile environment. Indiana and Duke would trade baskets in the first half, no one really pulled away with it early. They traded the lead 10 times and tied 11 times. The second half was as close as the first half but Duke finally gained the momentum and it was all Marvin Bagley III, Wendell Carter, and Grayson Allen leading Duke to a 91-81 win. Marvin Bagley III finished with another double-double (24 points and 10 rebounds), his side kick Wendell Carter would foul out, but he also finished with a double-double (18 points and 12 rebounds), and finally Grayson Allen had a quiet 21 points and 4 assists. With Carter fouling out, sophomore big man Marques Bolden played crucial minutes down the stretch and played well. Grayson Allen’s most underrated attribute this year is, since he’s the lone senior, his leadership on the court has been very visual. He’s constantly shouting out on the court and after every dead ball getting the team to huddle up to make sure they all know what they’re supposed to do. People always make him out to be this villain but really, he’s a good kid that wants to be the best player he can be and be that vocal leader on the court and wants to be like former Dukie Quinn Cook.
Indianas De ‘Ron Davis had a solid game tallying 16 points and 5 rebounds. Indiana played well throughout the game, staying close, but they just couldn’t stop Dukes attack in crunch time and they ultimately fell short. Since the BIG TEN tournament is a week earlier this year, they start conference play this weekend, so they will be facing Michigan this Saturday so it’s a tough turnaround.
This win was a crucial road win to Duke and it just goes under the category where it was another late comeback to take over late and win by double digits. This young team has this poise where they don’t give up no matter the deficit. They now have a much-needed couple of days off before they return home to Cameron Indoor where they play South Dakota on Saturday.
