Evansville Purple Aces vs Duke Blue Devils Match Player Stats On Dec 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Dec 20, 2017

DURHAM, N.C. -- Freshman Wendell Carter Jr. scored a season-high 27 points as fourth-ranked Duke returned to its winning ways by blowing out Evansville 104-40 on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Marvin Bagley III's 18 points and Grayson Allen's 16 points also bolstered Duke (12-1), which has won its past two home games by more than 60 points. Gary Trent Jr. provided 13 points.

Duke hadn't played since the Dec. 9 loss at Boston College, but the Blue Devils didn't appear rusty with an impressive first half when they drained 67.7 percent of their shots. They led 55-18 at halftime.

The Aces allowed an average of 61.9 points in their first dozen games. Duke has eclipsed the 50-point mark in the first half in three of its last four games.

Early in the second half, Carter had 20 points and Evansville had 18. Carter, who shot 9-for-15 from the field, didn't play in the final 11 minutes, and the other Duke starters were rested for a large portion of the second half as well.

Duke's quest to improve defensively turned out well against a cold-shooting Evansville team.

Dainius Chatkevicius paced Evansville (10-3), which had a five-game winning streak snapped, with 12 points.

Duke went up 21-9 and then 37-15 with six minutes left in the half.

Evansville, which entered the game with a nation-best 49.4-percent shooting on 3-pointers, was 5-for-14 from long range.

NOTES: Duke played without sophomore F Javin DeLaurier, who was out with a hamstring injury. He has been the team's most-used reserve this season. ... In its final nonconference home game of the season, Duke increased its winning streak in such games to 139. ... Evansville entered the game holding a 10-2 record for the third time in four years. ... Evansville became a Division I member in 1977, but fell to 0-6 in games played in North Carolina since. ... This was Duke's only game during a 20-day span. It is back in action Dec. 30 at home against Florida State in an ACC game. ... Evansville will play its fourth game in eight days when it opens Missouri Valley Conference play Saturday against visiting Illinois State.