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Duke Pours It On In The Second Half To Crush Lafayette

And may have found a new star in the process

By JD King
/ new
Lafayette v Duke
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 19: A.J. Griffin #21 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts after making a three-point basket against the Lafayette Leopards during the second half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on November 19, 2021 in Durham, North Carolina.
Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

It wasn’t a perfect game or anything but Duke’s tussle with Lafayette had some very strong points, not least of all the complete debut of a new weapon: AJ Griffin.

We’ve already seen Griffin play with enormous energy and that he can have a major impact on the course of a game but we haven’t really seen his offense like we saw it Friday night.

Griffin shot 7-10 overall and 4-6 from three point range for 18 points. It adds a level of dynamism to Duke’s offense that really takes it to another level.

A lot of it seemed to come in waves in the second half which was good because Duke was kind of struggling in spots just before and after halftime. Coach K looked visibly frustrated and at one point early in the second, Lafayette cut the lead to just six.

Duke eventually kicked it into high gear though and began to pull away, aided by eight straight points by Wendell Moore. Paolo Banchero chipped in a couple of baskets of his own.

Griffin had his own streak of three straight threes later and at that point it was all Duke.

Mark Williams had a shot at a triple double of his own, finishing with 14 points and 15 boards. He had four blocks which wasn’t enough obviously but we could see him getting double figures there too.

We were a bit surprised to see that Jeremy Roach didn’t scratch.

In general, Duke appeared a bit off in stretches and let Lafayette hang around longer than they should have.

However, let’s be clear about this.

Losing games and being a bad team are not the same thing. Lafayette is now 0-4 but this is a highly intelligent, well-coached team. They weren’t as talented as Duke but they got tons of backdoor plays and managed to confuse Duke defensively a good bit. having 17 turnovers certainly didn’t help but there’s a significant difference in talent for these two teams. We thought Lafayette would have made Dorothy proud because they played with heart, brains and courage. They should do well in the Patriot.

Poll

Player Of The Game vs. Lafayette

This poll is closed

  • 48%
    Wendell Moore
    (214 votes)
  • 0%
    Paolo Banchero
    (0 votes)
  • 16%
    Mark Williams
    (74 votes)
  • 0%
    Jeremy Roach
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Trevor Keels
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Keenan Worthington
    (2 votes)
  • 31%
    AJ Griffin
    (141 votes)
  • 0%
    Joey Baker
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Theo John
    (0 votes)
  • 0%
    Bates Jones
    (1 vote)
  • 1%
    Stanley Borden
    (6 votes)
  • 0%
    Spencer Hubbard
    (1 vote)
  • 0%
    Jaylen Blakes
    (2 votes)
443 votes total Vote Now

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