Wendell Moore Jr Triple Double Spectacular Magazine Lawrence Davis III Duke Basketball 2021-22
Sports

Wendell Moore Gets Triple-Double, Duke Dominates Army

Lawrence Davis III @LawDavis13 @SpecMagSports

Durham, NC – Duke junior forward Wendell Moore Jr finished the night with his first career triple-double as the Blue Devils opened game one of the Duke Veteran’s Day Weekend Showcase with a dominant 82-56 victory over the Army Black Knights on Friday night in the 2021-22 home opener.

Paolo Banchero Duke Lawrence Davis III Photo Spectacular Magazine
Freshman forward Paolo Bancher (5) looks to set up the offense against Army West Point (credit: Lawrence Davis III/Spectacular Magazine)

The Blue Devils would begin the game very sloppy with five turnovers in the first five minutes.

Head Coach Jimmy Allen’s Black Knight squad never backed down early. Every basket that Duke made was a tough-earned basket. Army was led in the first half by guards Jalen Rucker and Josh Caldwell, who both ended the first 20-minute stint with eight points. 

The Blue Devils saw a 10-point lead twice in the first half.

Freshman forward Paolo Banchero started the half 4-4 with 10 points but would spend a good portion on the bench with foul trouble. 

Duke would head to the halftime break with a 38-25 advantage despite eight turnovers in the first half. Junior guard/forward Wendell Moore led all scorers in the first half with 11 points.

Coach K’s squad would use a 17-2 run in the second half to extend their biggest lead to 29 with 1:29 remaining in the game. The Blue Devils would ease out the clock to an 82-56 win in front of an elated Cameron Crazy fan section.

Junior guard Wendell Moore Jr finished the night with 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, to earn his first career triple-double. 

Banchero finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds but Coach K eluded to Banchero needing to get an IV in the second half of the Kentucky game and now another IV tonight. “He can play better than that” stated a very concerned Duke head coach “but right now we just need to chill.”

Trevor Keels Duke Lawrence Davis III Photo Spectacular Magazine
Duke freshman guard Trevor Keels (1) celebrates hitting a three-pointer against Army (credit: Lawrence Davis III/Spectacular Magazine)

Freshman guard Trevor Keels struggled shooting for the night (10 pts on 4-14 shooting) but had a +/- rating of +22, which was a game-high. So even with a bad night shooting, Keels found a way to make sure his team scored while on the court. Keels also notched a career-high six steals in the win tonight. 

When asked about the 14 steals Duke had as a team, Coach K gave a smirk and mentioned that “We have 3 really good on-ball defenders” when referring to Wendell, Trevor, and Jeremy (Roach).

With the win, Coach K will finish his career with a 41-1 record in home-openers with a streak of 40 consecutive victories at home to start the season.

Duke (2-0, 0-0 ACC) will return on Saturday for game two of the Veteran’s Day Weekend Showcase to host the Campbell University Fighting Camels with a tipoff set for 8 PM.