Eagles falls short against #9 Blue Devils

USI starts 3-GM homestand next week

DURHAM, N.C. – University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball concluded the Duke Blue Devil Challenge with an 80-62 loss to ninth-ranked Duke University Friday evening at the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Screaming Eagles are 1-6 after tonight’s action, while the Blue Devils are 5-1 to begin the season.
 
The Eagles stunned the Blue Devils in the first five minutes of the game, quickly building a 10-point lead, 15-5, when the first media time out was called. USI would go on to lead by 10 points six different times during in the first 20 minutes.
 
Following USI pushing the lead back to 10, 32-22, with 5:02 left in the half, Duke used a 9-3 run to close the gap to four, 35-31, at the break. USI was led in the first half by sophomore guard/forward AJ Smith (Edwardsville, Illinois), who had 11 points and nine rebounds.
 
Junior guard Jeremiah Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois) and sophomore guard Jack Campion (Milton, Wisconsin) followed Smith in the first half with seven points each. Campion also had a team-high three assists in the opening half and would tie a career-best with seven assists in the contest.  
 
The second half saw Duke exploded out of the locker room with an 11-0 run to take the lead for the first time since the opening minutes, 42-35, its largest lead to that point. The Duke lead expanded to as many as 16 points, 58-42, but USI was not done.
 
The Eagles used a 6-0 run that was capped off by a dunk by sophomore forward Kiyron Powell (Evansville, Indiana) to close the gap to nine points, 58-49. The nine-point deficit would be as close as the Eagles would come the rest of the way.
 
Duke hit the gas one more time in the final five minutes and outscored USI, 22-13, the rest of the way to close out the 80-62 final.
 
In the scoring column, USI was lead by Hernandez’s team-high 15 points. The junior guard, who had eight points in the second half, was five-of-13 from the field, including a three, and four-of-four from the stripe.
 
Junior guard/forward Javius Moore (McComb, Mississippi) and Smith followed with 11 points each to round out the double-digit scorers. Moore was a blistering four-of-six from the field and three-of-four from beyond the arc.
 
Smith finished the game with a team-high 13 points to produce his third double-double of the season. Twelve of Smith’s 13 boards came on the defensive end.
 
Next Up For USI:
The Eagles return to the friendly surroundings of Screaming Eagles Arena next week to start a three-game homestand. USI begins the homestand Tuesday (November 28) by hosting East/West University at 7 p.m.
 
East/West, which will be making its first appearance at Screaming Eagles Arena, is 3-9 this season and 1-4 in its last five games.
 
The homestand will continue December 2 when USI hosts Bowling Green State University and concludes December 6 versus Purdue University Ft. Wayne. Tipoff versus Bowling Green is 3 p.m., while tipoff against Ft. Wayne is slated for 7 p.m.