Jon Scheyer challenges his team for close to first half

The Duke Blue Devils jumped all over the Illinois Fighting Illini in their matchup in Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. The third-ranked Devils poured in 54 points in the first half, the most they’ve scored in a half all season long. They knocked down 50 percent of their three-point (5-10) shots and dominated the glass, with a 14-4 advantage on second chance points. Going into halftime, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer spoke with Allison Williams of FOX.

What’s led to such good looks offensively? “I thought we were playing with a good deal of confidence. Getting out in transition. The guys are sharing it. Gotta close better. But sharing it has been great,” Scheyer explained.

How has his team responded to the big stage of playing in Madison Square Garden, one of the most famous basketball arenas in the world? “We’ve seen a lot this year. And it’s prepared us for these kinds of moments. I thought we were ready to play. We gotta close the half better. But they’re competitive, man. They compete. And I’m very proud of them, but we’ve got a long way to go here,” Scheyer finished.

Duke jumped out to a commanding 54-37 lead after the first half. Illinois shot 0-16 from three-point range in the opening half. That’s simply not going to get it done against a team of Duke’s caliber. The Fighting Illini did have 28 points in the paint in the opening half, compared to 24 for Duke.

The Blue Devil lead swelled to 24 points with 15:07 remaining in the second half. And let’s just say it was a demolition for the ages on Saturday evening.

Once the smoke had cleared, Duke demolished Illinois to the tune of a 110-67 beatdown that was historic in many ways. The 110 points scored by the Blue Devils were the fifth most in school history, tied with what they allowed to Ohio State on Feb. 10, 1964.

The 43-point obliteration is officially the worst loss in Illinois basketball history, surpassing a 40-point thrashing they suffered at the hands of Indiana on February 9th, 1974. The 43-point margin of victory is the largest neutral site regular season win for Duke since the program joined the ACC in 1953-1954, according to ESPN Stats & Info. It’s also their largest win against a Big Ten opponent since beating Michigan by 43 in 2000.

Duke finished with seven players in double digits. Isaiah Evans led the way with 17 points and Cooper Flagg wasn’t far behind with 16 points. The Blue Devils hit 12 of 23 three-pointers (52.2%). Illinois only hit 2 of 26 shots from downtown (7.7%). Duke dominated on the glass, outrebounding them 44-30. And Scheyer was right, the Blue Devils shared the basketball extremely well. They finished with 28 assists to just 10 for Illinois.