Notes: Duke 79, VCU 71

Duke 79, Virginia Commonwealth 71

As a Team
• Duke moved to 3-1 on the season with the victory, the 31st time during head coach Mike Krzyzewski's 36-year Duke career the Blue Devils started 3-1 or better to open a season.
• With the victory, Duke's record following a loss moved to 29-3 since the 2009-10 season. The Blue Devils have lost back-to-back games just three times in that span.
• The Blue Devils improved to 7-2 all-time while competing in the 2K Classic benefiting Wounded Warrior Project.
• Duke used the starting lineup of Derryck Thornton, Matt Jones, Brandon Ingram, Amile Jefferson and Marshall Plumlee for the first time this season. Friday's game marked the first start of Thornton's career.
• Duke is averaging 94.7 points per game in its wins.
• The Blue Devils are 88 points shy of hitting the tournament record for points scored in an entire2K Classic tournament, set by Toledo (372) in 2013.

Coach Krzyzewski's Numbers
• The win moved Krzyzewski's all-time record to 1,021-311 and his record at Duke to 948-252.
• A Krzyzewski-led Duke team moved to 2-1 all-time when facing VCU.

Allen off the Bench
• Grayson Allen came off the bench to score a career-high 30 points, while adding six rebounds and three assists. Allen's 30 points off the bench were the most this season in the ACC coming into the game.
• Allen registered career highs in points (30) and rebounds (six) for the second game this season.
• Through three games in the 2K Classic this season, Allen has scored 84 points, 14 shy of the tournament record, held by Jordan Hamilton (Texas – 2010).

Help From the Experienced
• Duke's veterans provided support for the Blue Devils on the offensive end of the floor, accounting for 63.3% (50 points) of the team's scoring.
• Jefferson, Plumlee, Jones and Allen shot a combined 17-of-31 (.548) from the field.

Blue Devils on the Glass
• Duke out-rebounded its opponent for the third time this season, collecting five more boards (38-33) than VCU.
• As a team, the Blue Devils hauled in 11 rebounds, the fourth straight game Duke collected double-digit offensive boards.
• Jones hauled in a career-high seven rebounds, tying Jefferson for a team-high number of boards.

Duke on the Offensive End
• The Blue Devils shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) from the field, the team's second-highest shooting percentage this season.
• Duke connected on eight three-point attempts, the second-most by the Blue Devils this season.

Fresh Faces
• Thornton led the Duke freshmen in scoring for the second straight game, netting a career-high 19 points to go along with two steals and an assist. Thornton's two steals are a career high.
• Duke's freshmen accounted for 36.7% (29 points) of the team's scoring Friday evening. Thornton led the way with 19 points, followed by Ingram (eight points) and Luke Kennard (two points).

Players Mentioned

Grayson Allen

Amile Jefferson

Matt Jones

Marshall Plumlee

Duke information