Written by Francisco Vera.
The Knights drop their first out of two exhibition games as they lose to the Duke Blue Devils with the score of 96-71 on Coach Dawkins’ return to Duke.
The exhibition game felt second to Dawkins’ return, as he got a standing ovation from everyone at Cameron Indoor Stadium before the game and was given a custom basketball by Coach K.
Once the festivities were through, it was game time, and the Blue Devils showed it would not be easy from the start. Duke came out swinging, and at the first media timeout it was 12-5.
The Knights would then slowly chip away at Duke’s lead, and at the Under-4 media timeout, they were up by 2 points, 34-32.
It appeared that UCF was hanging with the Blue Devils and would be going into the half with the lead; however, an Isaiah Evans three-pointer would send the Knights down by 1 into halftime, the score being 40-39.
Going into the second half, UCF continued to hang on with four lead changes in the first four minutes. However, that would be all for the Knights as Duke freshman Cameron Boozer would begin to shift the momentum in favor of the Blue Devils.
After a Boozer three that would make it a six-point game in favor of Duke, Johnny Dawkins would be forced to call a timeout, and after that, it was all Duke basketball.
The Blue Devils would continue to pull away with Cameron Boozer hitting the 26-point mark with almost 15 minutes left in the second half, showing he was the one to watch for Duke this year.
The final score at Cameron Indoor Stadium was 96-71, favoring the local Duke Blue Devils.
Duke’s Cameron Boozer led both teams in scoring with 33 points. For the Knights, Riley Kugel led the scoring with 22.
The Knights will return home to Addition Financial Arena for their second and final exhibition game against the LSU Tigers on October 26, before beginning non-conference play.
