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Durham, N.C. • Before Utah State's game at Duke on Sunday, junior forward Jalen Moore called the opportunity to play the Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium a dream-come-true.
On Sunday, however, a nightmarish second half cost the Aggies any chance of upsetting No. 6 Duke.
Sophomore Grayson Allen and freshman Luke Kennard scored 22 points each and the Blue Devils shot a season-high 56 percent en route to an 85-52 victory over Utah State.
Duke outscored the Aggies in the second half, 47-22.
"Disappointing performance," coach Tim Duryea said. "We're a better program than that. I thought we were extremely selfish offensively. I thought we were extremely soft defensively. It was just a performance not to be proud of. I didn't think there was one redeeming quality about our performance."
Chris Smith topped USU with 13 points. Jalen Moore and Lew Evans added eight. It was only the third time in the last 34 games Moore has not reached double figures.
With the win, Duke improved to 6-1 this season. Its only loss came on a neutral court against Kentucky. The Aggies slipped to 4-1.
"This was a tremendous atmosphere — a tremendous place to play, obviously," Duryea said. "… I just think we didn't respond to any of that at all in a positive way. We are a program that's better than that and one that should respond to an opportunity like this better than we did. It was just extremely disappointing."
Coming off an 80-61 win over Yale, Duke rode senior forward Amile Jefferson to an early lead, He scored six of the Blue Devils' first eight points and Utah State found itself trailing, 14-6.
The Aggies steadied themselves, however, and cut into Duke's lead. After Moore got inside for a layup, it was 16-12 with 12:50 remaining in the first half.
At that point, the Blue Devils' defense began to bother the Aggies, who went over four minutes without scoring.
Duke reeled off seven straight points before point guard Shane Rector finally got loose in the lane. His basket made it 23-14. Elston Jones followed with a baby hook to make it a seven-point game, but Kennard stopped the mini-rally with a three-point play.
It was 38-27 at halftime, although Duke quickly took complete control with a 16-0 run to start the second half. Rector ended the game-deciding burst with a cross-over and jump shot with 14:51 left in the game, but it was still 54-29.
Storylines
R No. 6 Duke hands Utah State its first loss of the season, 85-52, in the first-ever meeting between the teams.
• Chris Smith leads the Aggies with 13 points. Jalen Moore adds eight.
• Utah State continues its two-game road trip Tuesday at Missouri State.