The biggest difference in the game . . .
The Blue Devils scored the first five points of the contest and led the game wire-to-wire t. Four straight points from senior Rodell Wigginton had the Bulls within one early and UB remained within five with 9:20 left when Duke scored six straight points to take a 25-14 lead. The Blue Devils led by as many as 14 points in the opening half, but a three from freshman Nick Perkins and a jumper by Blake Hamilton pulled UB back within nine with 43 seconds left. Duke took a 34-24 lead into the half. The 34 points scored by Duke was its second fewest total in an opening half this year.
UB pulled within single digits five minutes into the second half following a three pointer from Jarryn Skeete, but Duke answered by going on an 11-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to go up 52-32.
Back-to-back baskets from Massinburg brought the Bulls within 59-47 with 7:33 left, but Duke answered with another 10-2 run. The Blue Devils took their largest lead of the game at 23 with 1:40 left and that was the final difference on the night.
"I think we learned some things today, and I think we did get better as a team tonight," said head coach Nate Oats. "We knew this was going to be a difficult game and that it was going to be hard to win here, but we came here for the environment, the competition, and to see if we could get better and it was a big confidence booster for some of our kids, like CJ Massinburg."
Massinburg led the Bulls with 17 points, 13 of those coming in the second half. He went 8-of-12 from the floor, while adding four rebounds. Sophomore Lamonte Bearden added 10 points and three assists, while Skeete, Perkins and Ikenna Smart each had six points. Smart added a team-high nine rebounds.
For the eighth straight game, the UB bench outscored its opponent, this time, 27-15.
Duke got 23 points and eight rebounds from Brandon Ingram and 22 points and 11 rebounds from Grayson Allen.
The road trip for the Bulls now moves on to another top 10 opponent as UB will face #5 Iowa State on Monday night at 9:00pm EST. That game will air nationally on ESPNU.
(Courtesy of UB Athletics)