No. 10 Illinois basketball pushes past No. 6 Duke in ACC-Big Ten Challenge
In another top-10 matchup on its famed home court Tuesday night, No. 10 Duke never lead as No. 6 Illinois took control early and never let the Blue Devils back in the game.
Illinois left Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 83-68 basketball win as part of the ACC-Big 10 Challenge, the second home loss the Blue Devils have suffered this month.
The Illini (4-1) followed Big Ten rival Michigan State by beating the Blue Devils in Durham. The Spartans beat Duke 75-69 on Dec. 1.
Illinois jumped to leads of 14-2 and 17-4 in the game’s early minutes. Duke never cut the deficit below eight points as Illinois took a 43-29 halftime lead. Duke failed to trim Illinois’ lead below 10 points in the second half as the Illini led by as many as 19.
“We got beat by a team that is better than we are, and older, more mature,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They kind of imposed their will on us. We are not as good as they are. Therefore, you have to be really smart and hit shots. We are not there yet. We have a lot to learn.”
Junior guard Ayo Dosunmu scored 18 points for Illinois while interior players Kofi Cockburn and Giorgi Bezhanishvili also wreaked havoc for the Illini. A 7-0 sophomore, Cockburn scored 13 points with eight rebounds. The 6-9, 235-pound Bezhanishvili finished with 11 points.
Duke (2-2) shot 40.3 percent overall while making only 5 of 22 3-point shots.
Matthew Hurt led the Blue Devils with 19 points. Freshmen Jeremy Roach (13) and DJ Steward (13) also scored in double-figures for Duke.
“We’re going to continue to work on our offense, whether it’s motion offense or set plays,” Hurt said. “But I think (we have to) just keep attacking the rim, just find the open guy, and just calling people off. If you have an open shot, call for it and shoot it with confidence.”
And one
Illinois entered its matchup against Duke No. 10 nationally in 3-point shooting (45.1%) and used that aspect of its game to build a double-digit lead in the first half and carry it deep into the second half. The Illini made 7 of 9 their first nine shots from behind the 3-point line and finished 7 of 11 for the game.
Lane violation
The Blue Devils’ shooting struggles behind the 3-point line popped up again as they missed their first 12 attempts before DJ Steward finally hit one with 12:33 to play.
ICYMI
Duke had gone 150 consecutive games over 19 years without losing to a nonconference opponent at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Stephen F. Austin ended that streak on Nov. 26, 2019, with its epic 85-83 win over the Blue Devils. Last week, Duke lost 75-69 to Michigan State at home and now this loss against Illinois means that home court mystique is shattered.
Making sense of the numbers
0: Minutes Duke led against Illinois Tuesday night.
2: Consecutive games Duke’s Jalen Johnson, a preseason all-ACC selection, has failed to score in double figures. Johnson hit only 3 of 10 shots against Illinois while scoring seven points.
58: Illinois shooting percentage from the field as the team hit 29 of 50 field goal attempts.
This story was originally published December 8, 2020 at 11:49 PM with the headline "No. 10 Illinois basketball pushes past No. 6 Duke in ACC-Big Ten Challenge."