DURHAM, N.C. – All-round performances from Grayson Allen and Amile Jefferson guided No. 1 Duke to a 96-61 win over Grand Canyon in a college basketball game on Saturday night.
Allen finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals and Jefferson added 15 points, seven rebounds, five blocks and three steals for the Blue Devils (2-0) who were winning for the second time in less than 24 hours.
“I like my team a lot. We just have to keep getting better, and then once all these injuries are taken care of in some time, we can become a different team,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
“Right now, we have to be this team and not think about who we could be. Our complete focus has got to be how to win with this team.”
“We have to rebound — the whole perimeter has to rebound,” said Allen. “We know the big guys that we do have in the game, they’re going to be battling, boxing out the other bigs, so the perimeter, we need to crash in and rebound and clean up all the loose stuff.”
Freshman Frank Jackson had a college-best 21 points to go with four rebounds off the bench, Luke Kennard supported with 14 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Matt Jones ended with 11 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals in the win.
The Blue Devils shot 53.3 percent from the floor on 32 for 60 shooting at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Shaq Carr led Grand Canyon (0-1) with 18 points and eight assists, but also turned the ball over eight times in the defeat.
Keonta Vernon finished with 11 points and four boards and Gerard Martin added 10 points and five rebounds for the Antelopes, who went 3 of 12 from 3-point range.
Duke won the battles in rebounding 39-31, assisting 20-11 and steals 14-7.
The ACC and national powerhouses were again without talented freshmen Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Marques Bolden who are all injured.
Five-star freshman Giles remains out with a knee injury, forward Tatum has a foot problem and Bolden is dealing with a lower leg injury.
There is no timetable set for the trio’s return, but coach Krzyzewski says he will not rush them back too soon.
The Blue Devils, who beat Marist 94-49 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Friday night, will now travel to Madison Square Garden for the Champions Classic when they will face No. 3 Kansas on Tuesday.
“We’re a team of no excuses… We feel that Duke wins games like those,” said Jones ahead of Duke’s clash with the Jayhawks.
“Coach is a competitor and we feed off that. Me, Amile and Grayson have been in plenty of games like that and we expect to win as well.”
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