College Basketball Power 10: Louisville Cardinals Get Statement Win
By Jeremy Karll
5. Duke (12-1)
Duke’s 72-61 win over Elon was overshadowed by Grayson Allen‘s antics.
Allen, the preseason All-American and Player of the Year favorite, only had three points on 1-of-8 shooting against Elon. He became the focal point of college basketball, however, when he purposely tripped an Elon player going up for a layup after fouling him.
It’s the third time Allen has been caught tripping an opposing player and it led to him being suspended indefinitely by Duke. To make matters worse, Allen threw a tantrum on the bench as Duke’s assistant coaches tried to calm him down.
Besides the poor perception of Duke basketball Allen’s tantrum and tripping creates, it’s also a huge loss on the court. Allen is averaging 16.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game this season. That is a huge loss for a Duke team who was finally starting to get healthy.
Harry Giles is still getting back into game shape, as he’s played a combined 10 minutes in his first two games. Plus, Frank Jackson is the only wing player on Duke’s bench that has had a significant role this season. There simply aren’t a lot of options on Duke’s bench right now to replace Allen.
Duke is loaded with talent but their inability to have it all on the floor at once is keeping them from reaching their potential.
Duke will start ACC play with an away game at Virginia Tech this week. It will be interesting to see how long Allen is suspended and how Duke handles losing another key player.