Duke vs Brown: Gameday Open Thread

Duke faces Brown from the Ivy League at Cameron Indoor Stadium in a game that tips at 11:30 AM on Saturday morning.

This game will close out Duke's non-conference schedule. Duke will face Boston College on New Year's Eve to open ACC play.

Duke will once again be without sophomore point guard Tre Jones, who missed the Blue Devils' last game before the holiday break, nine days ago, with a sprained left foot that was termed as "mild" by Duke officials.

The injury is still being called "mild," but it will keep Jones out. Coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the last game, a win over Wofford, that Jones could have played if it had been an ACC game. Presumably, he's waiting until the ACC game in three days to bring him back.

Brown (5-5) is coming off of back-to-back losses, to Stony Brook and St. John's. The Bears are No. 231 in KenPom's ratings. Their win over No. 219 Bryant in the opener was the highest-rated opponent they've beaten this year.

Duke's students are on break, so the crowd will consist of bucket listers and tourists making, for many of them, their only trip to Cameron Indoor ever. The mascot and cheerleaders are on break, and the student band will be replaced by a group of alumni. That means a much lower level of energy in the home court atmosphere than has come to be expected from a Duke game at Cameron.

Vernon Carey, Cassius Stanley, Matthew Hurt, Jordan Goldwire and Joey Baker get the start today.

And after being announced as a starter, Hurt is replaced by Jack White for the opening tip.

Baker is the ninth different Blue Devil to start a game this year. That matches the number of starters for all of last season (including senior day). Javin DeLaurier hasn't started a game yet, so 10 seems likely before things are done.

Hurt enters at the 16:45 mark, so he wasn't ... hurt. Not sure why the late scratch in the lineup.

At the under 16, Duke leads 8-4. Blue Devils aren't shooting well (4 of 10, 0 of 5 from three) but defense is clamping down on Brown.

Following up on the starting lineup note from earlier. Duke has had nine different starters several times in the last decade. If DeLaurier gets a start, that will be 10 starters for the first time since 2008-09, when Duke had 11.

Starters that year: Gerald Henderson, Singler, Scheyer, Nolan Smith, Paulus, Elliot Williams, Lance Thomas, D McClure, Zoubek, Miles Plumlee, Pocius

David Cutcliffe must have designed the run blocking for that Cassius Stanley drive to the basket. Duke sealed everyone off and created an alley for Stanley to get a clear path to dunk.

Brown hits back to back threes to tie things at 12 with 11:26 to go.

Those were Brown's first two makes from three after starting 0-for-3. Duke is 0-for-7 from outside, 5-of-10 from two.

Brown is outrebounding Duke early on, thanks to the Bears getting three of eight misses on their end.

Why is Coach K trending on Twitter right now? Because he's not having it with this start...

Coach K's jacket is OFF. It's ON....😡😳 pic.twitter.com/VGEQLEFxiZ
— Amy Murray (@VTDukefan) December 28, 2019

At the under 8, Duke is up 21-18. Duke has five steals and nine points in transition. Struggling in half court though. Only shooting 9 of 23.

Duke has now rebounded nine of 20 misses on its end, including a Jack White putback that forces a Brown time out. Duke up 31-24 at 3:34 in the first.

Brandon Anderson keeping Brown in it right now. He's 3-of-5 from three.

Brown hits a three with 12 seconds left to cut Duke's lead to 35-29 at the half. Duke is 0-for-11 from three. Last time Duke didn't hit a three? Dec. 30, 1989.

Hurt starts the second half in place of White, along with the other four starters.

It's all Vernon Carey to start the second half. He has all eight of Duke's points since the break. At the under 16, it's 43-35 Duke.

Hurt picks up his third foul. Stanley already has three for Duke.

Brown is missing the chance to to really tighten this up. Bears are just 5-of-13 on free throws, 1-of-6 this half.

Goldwire picks up his third.

Alex O'Connell with a pair of mid-range jumpers and a steal. Duke now up 52-40. Brown can't wait until the under 12 and calls time with 11:48 left.

Still no threes today for Duke. 0-for-12.

Duke is making it a priority to drive to the hoop with Wendell Moore. Results have been ... mixed at best. He was one of the prime targets of K's first half anger. But it will be an important skill to develop as the year goes on.

At the true under 12, it's still 52-40.

Here's the box from that Duke-Hawaii game two days shy of 30 years ago (courtesy of our friends at the student paper, the Chronicle and Duke Library). Duke only attempted four three-pointers. Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner and Phil Henderson (twice) all missed.

At the under 8, Duke is still in front, 55-46. Not putting Brown away though. Brown just 1-of-6 from three this half and 2-of-7 from the line, which is why we're not on full upset alert.

And the scare is over. Alex O'Connell knocks down a three with 6:30 left. Duke up 58-46. Latest I can remember Duke going without a three in recent years was the 2017-18 game against Syracuse when it shot 2-of-18 and didn't make one until 7:32 left.

Duke goes 11-2 after the three to stretch it out. AOC hits another three and Brown calls time out with 3:51 up. Duke up 69-48.

That’ll do it. Duke polishes off a 75-50 victory.

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