Duke, the No. 1 team in the country, cruised to a 94-49 victory on Friday night, despite missing three key freshmen who are expected to play key roles this year for the Blue Devils.
Freshman phenoms Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden all missed Duke's season opener due to injury. But it turns out, the Blue Devils didn't much need them, anyway. It was business as usual for Coach K's team, who put the Blue Devils least-known star freshman Frank Jackson to work. He finished the game with 18 points on an efficient 6-of-15 shooting and threw in four assists for good measure.
The Blue Devils ran Marist out of the gym behind Grayson Allen's 16 points. Luke Kennard poured in 16 as the trio Allen-Kennard-Jackson trio outscored Marist's entire team in the blowout at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke dominated both sides of the game as they rode a hot hand shooting 44 percent from field goal range. They simply imposed their will on the boards, too, holding a final rebounding advantage of 56-33 over a Red Fox team that did not have a player over 6-foot-9.
It was business as usual for Duke who put on a clinic despite being without three of their key players. Bolden, who was held out Friday, is expected to be re-evaluated early next week, although there is no timetable of his return from an injury to his lower left leg.
