12/7/2024
Duke hosted #2 Auburn in the final game of the SEC/ACC Challenge Wednesday night. Another slow start for Duke and hot shooting by Auburn resulted in a 13-2 lead for Auburn to start the game. Then Isaiah Evans got on the court and caught fire, going 6-8 from three-point range in just 11 first-half minutes. A McDonald’s All-American in high school, the wiry freshman Evans (nicknamed the “Slim Reaper” by Duke’s student paper) has barely seen the court this year, but that should change. Duke also turned up its defensive pressure, forcing Auburn to work for their shots every trip down the Court. Maliq Brown continued his dominating defense, frustrating Auburn’s star Johni Broome and holding him to only 5 points in the first half. Riding Evans’ hot shooting and its defense, Duke took a 7-point lead into the half. Although held in check scoring wise, Cooper Flagg was a rebounding force in the 1st half and doled out several assists, demonstrating his ability to influence a game in multiple ways.
Duke surged to a 12-point lead in the opening 2 minutes of the second half, and could have extended the lead further if it had made its free throws. Missed opportunity. Auburn started to pull its way back, ratcheting up its defensive intensity and Broome finding his offensive rhythm. Flagg started to heat up offensively as well, and both stars led their teams in the second half. After Auburn cut Duke’s lead to 2 with just over 5 minutes left, Tyrese Proctor hit a huge 3 as the shot clock expired to extend the Duke lead to 5 – probably the biggest shot of the game. In a reversal of its late-game failures against Kentucky and Kansas, Duke held on from there, getting some defensive stops and hitting its free throws down the stretch to hold on for a 6-point victory, 84-78.
In addition to the outstanding game by Flagg, Duke got strong performances from Proctor, Sion James, and Maliq Brown, a shut-down defender. Caleb Foster, who didn’t start for the first time this season, contributed some much-needed scoring with 11 points. Very impressive win for Duke. Auburn was undefeated and probably the most dominant team in the country heading into the game, with wins over Houston, Iowa State and North Carolina. Along with Broome, Auburn’s freshman Pettiford was fantastic, hitting a number of key 3s to keep Auburn close. Bruce Pearl has a great squad, with all the pieces to make a deep run in March. Duke should gain some confidence from this win.
The SEC obliterated the ACC in the 2-night slate of games, winning 14 of 16. I had to laugh when the ACC ran a commercial during the game touting the ACC as the premier conference in college basketball. Talk about your alternative facts.
11/30/2024
Duke put in a strong effort but suffered a tough loss against No. 1 Kansas on Tuesday night. Despite falling behind 16-3 to start the game and scoring only 20 points in the first 15 minutes of the 1st half, Duke fought back to trail by just 2, 41-39, at halftime. After another Kansas run early in the second half, Duke clawed its way back and the second half was tight until the very end. Late game turnovers again proved costly for the Blue Devils, with Duke turning the ball over on successive trips down the court in the final minute. Good execution and an excellent play call allowed Kon Knueppel to get off a last-second three pointer at the buzzer that could have tied the game, but it bounced off the rim and Kansas held on for a 75-72 victory.
Both teams had some challenges. Kansas played the last 10 minutes without its star center Hunter Dickinson, who was ejected after a video review for kicking Maliq Brown in the head after the two got tangled up fighting for a rebound and fell to the ground. The ejection struck me as a little harsh - probably could have been called a Flagrant 1. Kansas freshman Flory Bidunga filled in nicely in Dickinson’s absence, and Rylan Griffin was huge for the Jayhawks down the stretch. Duke struggled for large portions of the game with Kansas’s physical play and aggressive double-teams, but got an outstanding defensive effort along with some timely offense from Maliq Brown. Tyrese Proctor helped keep Duke in the game with strong outside shooting, hitting 5-7 from 3-point range, and Flagg, after being held in check in the first half, had a strong second half. Scheyer had one of his better coaching performances at Duke, employing a highly effective offensive scheme with Knueppel running the offense from the top of the key for a good portion of the second half. Good in-game adjustment.
In a curious note, the scoreboard malfunctioned during the first half and stopped showing the score in the arena. Whoever made that prop bet may have been the biggest winner that night. Only in Vegas.
Duke shook off the Kansas loss and the standard Thanksgiving food coma with a 70-48 win at on Friday night at home against the Seattle University Redhawks. Solid win after a lot of travel and the physical toll of the Kansas game. Duke continues its brutal early-season schedule with a match up against undefeated No. 4 Auburn (likely No. 2 after new rankings released) in the SEC/ACC challenge on Tuesday night.
11-24-24
Duke picked up a nice win on the road against a talented Arizona squad on Friday night. Although shooting just 42% from the field, 63% from the free throw line and committing 14 turnovers, Duke managed a 14-point win before a raucous Arizona crowd. Wasn’t a work of art – Duke at times settled for too many three pointers with little or no attempt to drive or get the ball into the post. Things began to improve as Duke began to drive and look for opportunities inside. Cooper Flagg, the highly-touted freshman, was outstanding. Sion James had a strong game, and Kon Knueppel, another freshman, came on in the second half after being shut down by Arizona’s defense in the first half.
The real difference in the game was Duke’s defense, which held Arizona to only 55 points, 40 points below its season average. It was a true team effort, with Duke applying good ball pressure, contesting the passing lanes and crashing the glass, outrebounding Arizona, one of the best rebounding teams in the country, 43-30. Hopefully this will continue, as Duke’s defense – once it’s calling card – has been a weakness in the one and done era, with teams often disjointed, out of position and unable to get stops when needed. Duke will need another stellar defensive effort to have a chance against No. 1 Kansas, its next opponent.
As an aside, Duke flew out to Arizona on Tuesday – 3 days before a game that started at 8:30 pm Friday evening. Understand it’s a long flight from Durham to Tuscon, but come on. Is it really that hard for a bunch of 19-22 year olds to adjust to a 2-hour time change? Maybe the next time I need to head out of town for work I’ll tell my client that I need to leave 3 days early and stay at an expensive hotel to get acclimated to the new time zone.
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