Wendell Moore Jr. heated up in the second half and ended up with 23 points as No. 7 Duke put away visiting Lafayette in the second half in an 88-55 victory Friday night at Durham, N.C.
AJ Griffin came off the bench for 18 points, Mark Williams had 14 points and 15 rebounds, Paolo Banchero added 11 points and Trevor Keels posted 10 points for the Blue Devils (5-0).
Griffin, a freshman who had a total of 12 points in the first four games, drained four 3-point shots. Duke ended up with 12 baskets in 30 3-point attempts, good for a 40 percent connection rate.
Kyle Jenkins scored 18 points for Lafayette (0-4). He made four of Lafayette’s seven 3-pointers.
Moore scored eight straight points during a 10-3 run early in the second half as the Blue Devils built a 48-34 edge.
Duke led 35-27 at halftime after failing to pull away while Lafayette struggled to get untracked offensively.
Lafayette went more than five minutes without scoring as Duke stretched its lead to 21-5. By then, the Leopards were tagged with 12 turnovers.
But the Leopards hit four straight shots, including a pair of 3-pointers, and pulled within 23-15.
Duke shot 33.3 percent (9-for-27) from the field across the first 14 minutes. Banchero missed his first four shots before draining a 3.
By halftime, Duke was still at that 33.3 percent mark (14-for-42) and was saved in part by pulling in 11 offensive rebounds over the first 20 minutes.
Jenkins had six of Lafayette’s 11 first-half field goals. Tyronne Perry, who entered leading the team in scoring at 14.7 points per game, didn’t score in the first half.
Lafayette, which began the season with a loss to Atlantic Coast Conference member Syracuse, heads to Rutgers of the Big Ten for its next game in a rugged early-season schedule.
–Field Level Media
