Wendell Carter Jr. scores 27 as Duke pummels Evansville

By: Zack Adams

12/20/17

Boston College downed the then #1 Duke Blue Devils 89-84 to open up ACC play. Well after 11 days off and probably long days of practice along with review time for exams, #4 Duke (12-1) beat down Evansville (10-3) Wednesday night in Cameron, going on to win 104-40.

"Defense, defense, defense" is something that was stressed by Mike Krzyzewski and the rest of the Duke coaching staff over the past 11 days. Well, Duke left no doubt on defense and continued to pour in points on the offensive end as they won their final non conference game by 64 points. This margin was the fourth largest margin of victory for Duke under Coach K in his tenure. Duke forced 19 turnovers, 13 of those turnovers were steals.

Wendell Carter Jr. had himself a game. The freshman forward scored a career high, 27 points to go along with five rebounds. Carter Jr. shot 9/15 from the field and 4/7 from beyond the arc. His front court mate and possible #1 overall pick, Marvin Bagley III finished with 18 points, seven rebounds, and four assists. Grayson Allen finished with 16 points and Gary Trent Jr. added 13. The fifth and final starter, Trevon Duval did not finish in double figures but he attacked the rack well and dished out eight assists.

The bench was also key in Duke's blowout victory. Duke outscored Evansville 26-6 off the bench and were led by Alex O'Connell's nine points and Justin Robinson's six points, on 2/4 shooting from three. Like Duval, backup point guard Jordan Goldwire was also "dime happy" as he dished out seven assists.

Evansville normally is a great three point shooting team. The Aces coming into tonight's contest were shooting 49.4% from three point land but tonight, only shot 35.7%. Duke was making in rain from beyond the arc, shooting 16/26 as oppose to Evansville's 5/14 and that came with great zone defense from Krzyzewski's men. In Evansville's defense, the Aces were without four original starters. The four guys combine for 45.5 PPG and that was greatly missed in this big loss. Evansville only had eight players active and were led by "D.C" Dainius Chatkevicius' 12 points and five rebounds.

Evansville will open Missouri Valley Conference play on Saturday (Dec. 23) at home against Illinois State. Duke will enjoy the Christmas holiday and another ten days off as they'll play their second ACC game of the season as they host now #24 Florida State on Dec. 30.