No. 4 Duke men’s basketball celebrates a nine-game winning streak when it takes on Notre Dame at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday. After 20 minutes of play, the Blue Devils went into halftime with a 44:36 lead:

Irish cold early

As Winter Storm Cora swept across Durham on Friday evening, inches of snow and ice covered the ground outside Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Fighting Irish continued that trend with an icy start, missing their first five attempts from the field. On the contrary, the Blue Devils picked up right where they left off against Pittsburgh. An 11-0 run, led by three three-pointers from Tyrese Proctor, Cooper Flagg and Sion James, opened the game in just under four minutes. Additionally, the roar and sustained energy of the Cameron Crazies, who had recently entered the upcoming marquee season and were still riding high after a character-defining flag appearance earlier in the week, contributed to early struggles for the Fighting Irish, who were making their first field would score goal after five minutes.

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The Duke defense, the highest-rated in college basketball according to KenPom, was a difficult test for Micah Shrewsbury’s squad. In particular, the Blue Devils scored 14 points in transition off of just five Notre Dame turnovers. However, the Fighting Irish began to take better advantage of their opportunities, shooting 48% from the field in the first half.

Maliq Brown injured

After exiting at 11:25 a.m. following an awkward landing, Brown was replaced by Patrick Ngongba, the freshman from Manassas, Virginia. Scheyer has turned to Ngongba and Mason Gillis to fill the void. Maliq Brown was ruled out for the rest of the game with a right knee injury. Ngongba scored a field goal early in his season, and Gillis finished the game with three points and three rebounds, playing solid defense against the Fighting Irish.

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