The Duke Blue Devils shook off the jetlag and a sluggish first quarter that ended in an 11 all tie to defeat the Chinese Olympic National Team 77-64 in Kunshan. The Blue Devils were led by true freshman Austin Rivers who scored a team high 18 points and 5 assists. A 21-12 second quarter run gave Duke a working lead, one which would stand up for the rest of the game.
Rivers backcourt teammate Seth Curry started the game slow offensively but warmed up in the second half ending the game with 13 points. Ryan Kelly showed off his improvement gaining a double-double in the process. Kelly ended the game with 14 points and 13 rebounds while teammate Andre Dawkins was the other Blue Devil in double figures with 15 points. Duke played solid defense, a program staple, holding China to 20 of 61 from the field.
Duke turned the ball over 21 times and were whistled for quite a few fouls at 32 total. Another interesting statistic was the fact that just three Blue Devils took 3 point shots, with Dawkins leading the way going 4 of 9.
Duke will play the same Chinese team twice more, once Thursday night in Shanghai and on August 22 in Beijing. All of the remaining games will be televised on ESPNU and ESPN3. Tomorrow’s game tips at 8:00 a.m.
