All Five Duke Starters Score In Double Figures In Win Over Louisville

DURHAM, NC — The Duke Blue Devils had all five starters score in double figures en route to a dominating 79-62 win over Louisville on Monday night.

Tonight marked the first time all season that the entire Blue Devils starting lineup scored in double figures. Third-year team captain Jeremy Roach came alive in the second half where he scored 12 of his 14 points.

“I feel like we’re turning a corner as a team, to be honest,” Freshman forward Dariq Whitehead told me after the game. “We’ve been through a lot, learned a lot and we still have a lot to learn going into the postseason.”

This game started shaky for the Blue Devils as Louisville guard El Ellis scored 11 of the Cardinals’ first 13 points. Ellis, a Durham native, finished the game with a game-high 21 points. Ellis is averaging 18 points and five assists a game for the Cardinals and is third in the ACC in scoring this year.

Duke (20-8, 11-6 ACC) would turn things around for the better toward the end of the first half, sparking a 20-4 as Jacob Grandison and Tyrese Proctor began to heat up from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils went into halftime up nine points.

Duke went for the kill out of the halftime break, sparking an 18-6 run out of the gate to create a gap in the margin that became too much for Louisville to overcome. The Blue Devils would lead by as much as 17 en route to pulling off the victory. This marks Duke’s third consecutive win and they remain undefeated at home.

The Blue Devils look to keep the ball rolling this weekend as they take on Virginia Tech at home on Saturday at 8 PM ET on ESPN.