Duke goes small, beats Campbell 67-56

Duke defeated Campbell after being forced to go small against the Camels on Saturday.

Wendell Moore survived an injury scare to help lead Duke past Campbell (Photo versus Army Courtesy of Duke Athletics).

DURHAM, N.C. — Duke moved to 3-0 Saturday with a 67-56 win over Campbell in the final game of the Verteran’s Day Weekend Showcase. 

The Blue Devils were hit with a much more formidable opponent than most would have anticipated, making the night a battle from nearly start to finish. 

Though it never truly felt as if Duke was in danger of dropping its first game of the season to the Fighting Camels, nothing came easily. 

“That was really a good basketball game,” Mike Krzyzewski said. “They are really a well coached, disciplined team. That could be a first round NCAA game tonight.”

Duke’s defense was again pretty strong — for the most part — which ultimately proved to be the deciding factor in the victory. Despite turning the Camels over just nine times, Duke’s constant ball pressure and switching helped keep Campbell in check. 

In fact, the Blue Devils held the visitors to just 36% shooting (22-61) and 26% (6-23) from 3-point range. 

Duke found most of its success defensively following Krzyzewski’s decision to make a shift in his lineup, opting to go smaller against Campbell’s predominantly guard heavy group. 

“We were getting our butts beat,” Krzyzewski said. “We just decided after about 10 minutes or so, forget it, we’ve got to do something different.

“We faced veteran teams (to start the season) and different styles. This one was with five guards most of the time. You just have five handlers and they take you far into the shot clock. They’re disciplined deep into the shot clock. That doesn’t happen with many teams.”

For the Blue Devils, that meant center Mark Williams and reserve Theo John were limited in how they could contribute. John provided several big minutes — most notably in the second half — where he was able to hold his own in defending guards. That helped Krzyzewski steal some minutes of rest for Paolo Banchero. Williams was not about to defend the perimeter, which ultimately allowed him just 5:41 of game action. John totaled just 9:36 in the game. 

The decision to go small was clearly the right decision for Duke, as the tone changed pretty quickly, particularly in the second half. 

Prior to the move, Campbell caught Duke on three backdoor cuts for easy scores, and they were able to create some chaos with the Blue Devils’ bigs leaving shooters open, who connected well early on. 

The second half was an entirely different story. 

“In the first half, we obviously had a lot of adversity with Wendell (Moore) getting hurt on the first play,” Krzyzewski noted. “I thought it scared us. It knocked us back. And then they scared us with how well they played. And then we collected ourselves and I thought the last 32 minutes of the game we played great defense. Not good defense. And in the second half we didn’t give up a backdoor or a three.”

Joey Baker gave Duke a lift, making 3-of-5 three point attempts (Photo Courtesy of Duke Athletics).

WENDELL MOORE JR. INJURY AND RETURN

Just seconds into the game, Wendell Moore Jr. was injured on a defensive rebound attempt. He fell awkwardly and immediately began grabbing his left leg. The first inclination was to think he was suffering from another cramp — he received an I.V. against Kentucky. But it became clear rather quickly that he was holding his knee. 

Krzyzewski and the team trainers rushed to his side. Admittedly, Krzyzewski and everyone else in the building thought it was serious. 

“I thought it was serious,” he said. “He had during the summer a sprained knee. We really took a lot of time in making sure he was able to come back. It was the same knee. He was probably afraid when it happened. He said someone landed on his knee. 

“I said, ‘Are you able to walk on it?’ He said, ‘I think he can.’ I said, ‘don’t.’ I thought he was out.”

Moore said he was more scared than anything when the injury happened. 

“It was literally the first play of the game. I was just going to get the rebound, came down and he really just slid into my knee. Just a little hyperextension. At first I was just more scared than anything. It was the same knee I hurt a couple months back. I’m doing better.”

OFFENSE SCRAMBLED, THEN COLLECTED ITSELF 

Early on it looked as if Duke’s offense was lost at times. Much of that had to do with Moore’s absence, and adjustments that had to be made on the fly, but no matter the case, the offense could not find a rhythm early on. 

Thankfully for Duke, that didn’t last too long, as they connected on 50% of their shot attempts and 39% from 3-point range for the game. 

“It was like improvisation - running a weave, or we’re running Paolo in different spots,” Krzyzewski said. “And our guys adjusted really well to it.”

Jeremy Roach, who scored 14 points and posted four assists, echoed Krzyzewski’s sentiments. 

“First half I feel like we were kind of stagnant,” he said. “Kind of just moving the ball and standing. Second half we got guys moving, moved the defense a little bit. We found “P” (Banchero) in the post a couple times and after that we started hitting a couple threes and extending the lead.”

Baker also provided Duke a lift. After playing just over 11 minutes in the first half, the senior remained on the court for all 20 minutes of the second half. 

He hit several critical 3-pointers and finished the night with 11 points and five rebounds. 

“Joey had one of his best games,” Krzyzewski said. “He hits 3 threes and he doesn’t hit three 3s in a game where we win 82-60. He hits threes when it’s a four point lead. There’s a lot of pressure. That’s big. He played over 30 minutes.”

Moore’s return to the game also played a big role in Duke’s ability to find cohesion on offense. 

After returning from the injury, Moore immediately registered a steal and drove it to the hoop for another impressive finish in traffic. He ended up playing a big role for Duke, scoring 15 points, grabbing five rebounds, handing out five assists and posting three steals. 

“Obviously Wendell coming back is huge. It’s good he came back. He played a helluva a game. And he’s had a helluva year.”