Jimmy Baron, Delroy James, and Rhode Island came into Cameron Indoor Stadium tonight and outplayed Duke for 38 minutes. The Blue Devils allowed the Rams, who looked shockingly like UNC both in appearance in their play, to shoot 54% from the field and post an offensive efficiency of 122.7 for the game.
If not for some late heroics by Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer, the Blue Devils would have been the first ACC team to drop a game this season.
Jon Scheyer led the Blue Devils with 23 points, thanks in large part to making all 13 free throws he attempted. Kyle Singler added 21 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds and answered Rhode island's Jimmy Baron on multiple occasions. Nolan Smith (10 pts) and Lance Thomas (10 pts) also added double-figures.
Positives
- After shooting just 51% from the free throw line in their last game, Duke shot 87.5% today, making 28-32.
- Jon Scheyer appeared much more assertive on the offensive end, after deferring for most of the first two games.
Negatives
- 71.4% - Rhode Island's three point percentage. Typically, Duke defends the three well, but tonight Jimmy Baron and Rhode Island made 10-14 shots from behind the arc. In Duke's defense, Baron made several threes where he was defended quite well.
- Rhode Island's rebound margin was just 6, but it was only that close because Duke had an advantage in the 2nd half. Rhode Island grabbed 46% of their own misses giving them far too many chances.
- Duke took 30% of their shots from behind the arc for some unexplained reason. The Blue Devils often settled for the long range shot where they made just 23% from behind the arc.
Factor of the Game
At the end of the first half and throughout the 2nd half, two things changed, Duke started making shots and starting rebounding. Those two factors are graphed below along with the game flow for points. Also evident is that Duke led for just about 4 minutes in the entire game.
