The Duke Blue Devils need every single one of Rodney Hood's career-high 30 points to outlast the East Carolina Pirates, 83-74, in the NIT Season Tip-Off on Tuesday.
Duke vs. East Carolina final score: Rodney Hood’s career day leads Blue Devils past Pirates, 83-74
Rodney Hood led the Blue Devils and yet another strong game from Jabari Parker secured the win.
Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports
It looked like the Blue Devils were going to coast to an easy win when they led by as many as 18 through the first half, but the Pirates kept on chipping away. Antonio Robinson made a layup with around seven minutes remaining to reduce the deficit to just one and put the Pirates within sight of their first win over a ranked opponent in close to 11 years.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, the Blue Devils had Hood and Jabari Parker. The pair combined for 15 of the Blue Devils' final 19 points to put the Pirates away. Parker finished with 21 points, nine rebounds and six blocks, but nothing was more impressive than his coast-to-coast dunk where he blew past every member of the Pirates on the floor.
A balanced scoring attack by the Pirates was almost enough to topple Duke. Four East Carolina players finished with double-digit points, led by sophomore guard Prince Williams. East Carolina still has never beaten Duke in school history, going 0-21.
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