Tre Jones Leaves Duke Win With Injury
No. 2 Duke pounded Central Arkansas by a score of105-54 in the 2K Empire Classic at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils moved to 3-0 on the season and will likely ascend to No. 1 in the nation, assuming they beat Georgia State on Friday, after top-ranked Kentucky suffered an upset loss.
The big news coming from the game, however, was sophomore point guard Tre Jones, who collided with a Central Arkansas player early in the first half and suffered a blow to the head.
“He got hit,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They butted heads, and he got hit on the temple. He was pretty good at halftime, but we decided to obviously not play him.”
Jones sat on the bench in the second half, and Krzyzewski said his prospects were encouraging.
“He looks pretty good now,” he said. “I don’t think there will be a problem. He’s laughing and joking. I asked him if he knew my name and he said ‘Michael’, which was kind of bold on his part. Maybe he’ll get even more assertive as a result of that. Good stuff.”
Six Blue Devils scored in double figures, led by freshman Matthew Hurt, who scored 19 off the bench after starting the first two games of the season.
Freshman Vernon Carey had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 8-of-10 from the field. Freshman Cassius Stanley hit all five of his shots to score 13. He’s hitting .819 from the field to lead the ACC.
Duke’s pressure defense built a large first-half lead. The Blue Devils scored 25 of the game’s first 30 points and led by 30 before the under-four timeout before halftime. Duke finished the game with 14 steals and seven blocks, holding Central Arkansas to .353 shooting.
