Scheyer on fire: Career-high 36 points leads No. 7 Duke past Gardner-Webb, 113-68

Scheyer’s 36 lead No. 7 Duke past G-W, 113-68

DURHAM, N.C. — Jon Scheyer scored 24 of his career-high 36 points in the first half to lead No. 7 Duke past Gardner-Webb 113-68 on Tuesday night.

Scheyer was 11-of-13 shooting and hit a career-best seven 3-pointers while flirting with a triple-double for the Blue Devils (8-1).

Duke never trailed, broke the game open with a huge early run and shot 65.2 percent — 60.7 percent in the first half, when this one was decided.

Auryn MacMillan scored 14 points and C.J. Hailey added 11 to lead Gardner-Webb (3-5). The Runnin’ Bulldogs turned it over 23 times and went more than 6 minutes without putting the ball through the rim in losing their fifth straight.

Andre Dawkins scored 16 points for Duke, and Miles Plumlee and Brian Zoubek scored 13 points apiece. Nolan Smith added 11 and Kyle Singler, playing through a sprained right ankle, also finished with 11 points — all in the second half.

But the Blue Devils ultimately didn’t need that much from their injured star in extending several long streaks at Cameron Indoor Stadium: they won their 74th straight nonconference game there, their 34th in a row at home against unranked teams and their 47th consecutive December home game.

Duke was coming off a 10-day break between games for final exams and, with the university on break, had the unusual sight of a few scattered empty seats at the perpetually packed arena. But Scheyer and the Blue Devils clearly were on top of their game and didn’t get caught looking ahead to Saturday’s game against No. 15 Gonzaga at Madison Square Garden.

The first meeting between the schools had all the makings of a mismatch. The teams had only one common opponent — Charlotte — with Duke routing the 49ers by 42 points roughly a month before they beat Gardner-Webb by 29.

Thanks to Scheyer’s highlight-reel night, it was.

He hit his first seven shots, didn’t miss anything until he rimmed out a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the half, and nearly matched his previous career high of 30 by halftime.

His contributions weren’t limited to scoring, either. The senior point guard added eight rebounds and nine assists, including a pretty behind-the-head feed on a fast break that led to a dunk by Mason Plumlee and, later, a behind-the-back pass to set up Singler for a three-point play.

Duke all but ended this one by outscoring Gardner-Webb 30-10 during an 11-minute stretch of the opening half, a punishing run that started on Scheyer’s 3-pointer and ended when Smith’s free throw with 2:06 before halftime made it 47-26.

Included in that burst was a stretch of 6-plus minutes in which the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ only points came when Miles Plumlee was called for goaltending Jonathan Moore’s layup.

Moore and Grayson Flittner finished with 10 points apiece for Gardner-Webb, which has a total of 113 turnovers in its last five games, all losses.