Duke uses a 23-0 run to close the 1st half

The Blue Devils, down a point with 5:23 to go in the first half, went on a 23-0 run to take a commanding 52-30 lead into the locker room. Mason Plumlee and Rasheed Sulaimon led the charge with 14 and 13 points, respectively, in the stellar half. The Blue Devils were 13 of 14 from the free throw stripe. In the second half, the run would resume, and grow to 30-0, making it the largest since a 27-0 run over Clemson in 1999.

Career High 28 for Mason Plumlee

Mason Plumlee was a picture of efficiency tonight, scoring 28 points on 9 of 11 shooting from the field and 10 of 11 from the free throw line. Plumlee added 9 rebounds and 2 blocks, and earned the praise of Coach Krzzyewski after the game -- including about his defense. The coach mentioned that Mason stayed away from fouls tonight, contrasting it to the foul against Kentucky where he strayed too far from the basket defensively. "Guys got me easy shots - I wasn't shooting jumpers," said a smiling Plumlee after the contest. "A lot of credit goes to Quinn Cook and Tyler Thornton for getting me the ball in the right situations." Krzyzewski had mentioned in the pre-season that if Mason was to eliminate some of his misses from the stripe, he'd be a 20-10 guy, and tonight he showed that potential ...

... but it was Quinn Cook who got him the ball in position

The sophomore PG earned a start and he played well, dishing out a team and season-high 9 assists, tying his career high, set in January against Penn. Cook also scored 8 points in the game, including nailing consecutive three-pointers in the first half at a crucial time, and seemed very comfortable on the floor. He was humble in the post-game locker room. Check out our interview with him which will be up shortly. Cook had consecutive three pointers in the first half at a crucial time for Duke.

Kelly solid again

Ryan Kelly has struggled a bit with his shot early this season and went just 1 of 5 from the three-point stripe tonight, but he handled the boards early on for Duke and ended the game tied with Plumee with 9 caroms. But the most impressive improvement he's had in the off-season in my view is his development of better passing skills; he had 3 assists this evening, and that was his lowest total of the season. Any time you get a big who can dish to a scorer, he will present matchup problems. "We really locked in on the defensive end and didn't give them anything easy and really controlled the boards," said Kelly in the post-game locker room.

Notes

• Duke will next take on Minnesota, ranked 27th in the country as I type this, on Thanksgiving Day at 3:30 EST on AXS TV. The team will leave on Tuesday for their journey to the Bahamas, and, win or lose, will play two games in the Battle for Atlantis.
• Rasheed Sulaimon had a career high 19 points tonight for Duke.
• The Blue Devils won their 96th consecutive game in Cameron against non-conference opponents.
• Five Blue Devils hit three-pointers in the game.
•  Tyler Thornton ended a streak of 15 consecutive starts.