Blue Devils bludgeon Arizona State in final tune-up

DURHAM – Defensive intensity and activity was good enough to stake Duke to a 16-point halftime lead against Arizona State in a charity exhibition on Sunday night.

When the Blue Devils started hitting shots … well, we go to the opposing coach’s take for that one:

“Hats off to where they are. And oh shit about where we are,” said ASU coach and Duke hall of famer Bobby Hurley.

You’ll have to forgive the two-time national champion’s language and, for these purposes, focus on the first part of that one.

Duke boat raced ASU 103-47 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, flexing its collective muscle in the final public preseason event eight days before the season opener against Maine.

“For us, I think it’s just about staying defensive-minded,” freshman Cooper Flagg said. “We came out in the second half and shots started to fall. But I think that really started from our defense. We came out with high intensity, turned them over, got in transition and just got early, good looks that led to some easy makes.”

This was a 37-21 game at halftime. Duke was cold from long range in the first half, making 2 of 11 3s, and the Blue Devils got a bunch of points (10, to be exact) on fast breaks.

The first few minutes of the second half put on display the spurt-ability of this team and, well, it’s real.

And it’s spectacular.

Kon Knueppel started it 2½ minutes into the second half, drilling a couple of 3-pointers 36 seconds apart — matching how many 3s Duke made in the first half. Flagg took flight, soaring in for a two-handed dunk off a steal, and then Knueppel banged in another 3 — while getting banged in the head.

“Yeah, it felt pretty good, that first one. And then the next couple felt really good as well,” Knueppel said.

“Yeah, that one was a little lucky but glad that one fell. That was pretty cool,” he added of the four-point play.

After he completed the four-point play, Duke’s run was 12 straight points. It took all of 78 seconds and it wasn’t finished, as ASU turned the ball over again and Tyrese Proctor drained a 3-pointer that made it 56-23.

“We went to the timeout after the first 4 and we just knew we had to start getting knockouts,” Proctor said. “Our energy — everyone was diving on the floor. Kon dove on one, I had one, I think Coop got one.

“It just builds energy and when we see those guys making plays like that, it makes you want to play harder. I think we’re just playing for each other and that’s a lot of fun.”

Things got more fun for the Blue Devils, to the point that they had at least twice as many points as ASU for the last 16 minutes, 50 seconds of this game (except for one 15-second segment).

Duke’s 2-for-11 on 3-pointers in the first half was made a distant memory because of a 15-for-23 clip from behind the arc in the second half.

A couple of the other eye-catching numbers that show the potential of this Duke team when it’s rolling: A 17-0 advantage in fast-break points, 26-2 in points off turnovers, 38-14 in points in the paint and a 47-31 rebounding edge.

It was connectivity that coach Jon Scheyer wanted to see, moving from last weekend’s 51-point blowout of Division II Lincoln (Pa.).

“I thought between the two games, we were way more connected,” Scheyer said, speaking specifically to Duke’s defense. “We made some switches from some things I didn’t like. I didn’t think I coached them as well as I could have in that first game with how we were playing ball-screen defense.

“I thought we were just soft, overall. And I thought this game, the physicality, it shows with the points in the paint, obviously the rebounding.”

Knueppel led Duke with 19 points, as the Blue Devils put six players in double-figure scoring. Caleb Foster had 17 points and Sion James added 13, coming off the bench and operating as the point guard in lineups when Foster and Proctor were on the bench. Proctor, Mason Gillis and Darren Harris scored 10 points apiece.

ASU didn’t exactly set the tone offensively — with a corresponding hat tip to how active and disruptive Duke’s defense was.

The Sun Devils had 10 points on their first 29 possessions, a points per possession (0.35) that was painful to watch if you aren’t a Duke fan.

TIP-INS: Freshman Jayden Quaintance, the only freshman in college basketball younger than Flagg, tied for a team-high with 11 points. He started and was often matched up against Flagg, and the 6-9 forward from Raleigh also had six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. … Khaman Maluach scored on a lob on the first possession of the game and had eight points, 12 rebounds and two blocks. As we’ve in recent history with Mark Williams and Dereck Lively II, though, it’s not just about the shots Maluach blocks; it’s about the misses because of his presence or the shot attempts near the bucket that aren’t even attempted (more on that at a later date). … Duke walk-on Spencer Hubbard scored the final points of the game, a layup with 49 seconds left.