The Florida Atlantic Owls (1-2) were blown out 97-64 by a Duke (1-1) basketball team ranked fourth in the nation after a road trip to Durham, North Carolina.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s team came out storming out of the gate, hitting four threes in the first six minutes of the game. Duke found itself with a 20 point advantage after just thirteen minutes of play.
Led by 19 points from Mississippi State transfer Rodney Hood, Duke took a commanding 52-29 lead into halftime. Pablo Bertone finished with twelve points in the first half, but would be held to only five after halftime. His seventeen would lead all Owl scorers.
An overmatched Owls team finished the first half shooting just 37% from the field with just 3 assists.
As the second half began, the Blue Devils picked up where they left off, and their 10-2 run put the game out of reach. One bright spot for the Owls was Kelvin Penn, who managed to put on a very good performance, grabbing 9 rebounds despite suffering from stomach issues (food poisoning).
Duke has suffered just six home defeats by a non-conference opponent since 1947, and tonight they were led by highly touted recruit Jabari Parker. Amassing twenty points and ten rebounds against the Owls, Parker became the first Duke freshman to score at least twenty points in his first three contests.
Florida Atlantic will now play Boston College on Nov. 17th, a game that will be televised on ESPNU. The Duke game is the first of what will be five consecutive road games for the Owls.
