Ngongba’s big night, No. 2 Duke’s strong start fuels 113-52 win against Coastal Carolina

DURHAM, N.C. (AP) — Patrick Ngongba II had a career-high 28 points to go with nine rebounds, and No. 2 Duke scored the game’s first 16 points on the way to beating Coastal Carolina 113-52 on Thursday night.

The 6-foot-11, 250-pound junior already had a new scoring high with 18 points while flirting with a double-double by halftime for the Blue Devils (2-0), who shot 61.3% on the night and made 11 of 22 3-pointers.

Duke led by 36 at halftime.

Ngongba’s previous career high was 17 points, reached twice last year. He beat that by throwing down a dunk off a drive-and-dish from Caleb Foster in the final seconds before the break.

Then he blew well past that mark early in the second half of this romp, first by burying a straightaway 3-pointer as the trailer on the break, then hitting another from the same spot on the next possession to push Duke’s lead to 66-20 and force a timeout by Coastal Carolina.

Trey Perry scored 14 points for Coastal Carolina (0-2), which was picked to finish 13th in the 14-team Sun Belt Conference in the preseason coaches poll. The Chanticleers saw this one get away quickly as they couldn’t hit anything early while also struggling with turnovers against Duke’s length and aggression.

Coastal Carolina shot 30.2% on the night, including 4 for 22 from 3-point range.

Ngongba’s big night also offered a repeat of Coastal Carolina’s opening-game struggles against size. The Chanticleers lost Monday’s opener 71-70 to Eastern Michigan, which had 6-10 big Mohammad Habhab go for 34 points and 13 rebounds.

Up next

Coastal Carolina: Host USC Upstate on Monday.

Duke: Face No. 6 Michigan State on Tuesday in Chicago.