Preview: #6 Duke Blue Devils (3-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Indiana State Sycamores (2-1, 0-0 MVC)
Friday, Nov. 14 • 7:00 p.m. ET
Cameron Indoor Stadium • Durham, NC
TV: ACCN
The 3-0 Duke Blue Devils return to Cameron Indoor Stadium to host the 2 -1 Indiana State Sycamores on Friday night. This is the first meeting between the schools.
Broadcast Information
TV ACC Network
Play-by-Play Mike Corey
Analyst Terrence Oglesby
Producer Will Black
Radio Blue Devil Sports Net.
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 211 or 193 & SiriusXM app
History
First meeting:
Friday November 14th, 2025
Indiana State Sycamores
The Sycamores are coming off a season where they went 14-18, and 8-12 in conference. Indiana State lost 4 of their top 5 players from last season, including leading scorer Samage Tell, but return junior guard Camp Wagner, who looks to improve upon his 10 points per game from last season. They added Sterling Young from Florida A&M and graduate student Ian Scott from Grace College to a lineup that includes several other notable returners in Derek Vorst, Markus Harding and Jayan Walker. They’ve begun the season with a 2-1 record, with wins over Illinois Tech and SIU Edwardsville and a loss to Charlotte.
Last Time Out:
Indiana State men’s basketball picked up its first win against a Division I opponent this season with a 64-55 win on the road against SIUE to improve to 2-1 on the season. Indiana State started strong, jumping out to an early 11-4 lead within the first four minutes of play. Camp Wagner led the Sycamores’ offense with 16 points, and Sterling Young added 12. Ian Scott dominated the boards with 13 and added two blocks. Markus Harding also added three blocks on the defensive front, with Wagner chipping in three steals.
Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils are coming off of a 35-4 season that saw them within a game of a title shot. Duke went 19-1 in conference, winning both the regular season and the ACC Tournament.
The Blue Devils welcome in a number 1 recruiting class after their Final Four run. Jon Scheyer after losing his entire starting lineup to the NBA but retaining core pieces with experience. Leading Duke are experienced returners senior big Maliq Brown and junior guard Caleb Foster, both instrumental pieces in Duke’s run this past season. Duke also returned 3 members from last season freshman class in hot shooting Isaiah Evans, who shot a team high 41.6%. Duke also brings back Darren Harris who has reshaped his body in hopes for a larger role and Patrick Ngongba who similarly has reshaped his frame, coming into this season healthy.
Duke’s freshman class includes the Boozer brothers, Cayden and Cameron, do-it-all forward Nik Khamenia and Italian import Dame Sarr. Duke also added reserves Jack Scott and Ifeanyi Ufochukwu, from Princeton and Rice, respectively. Duke also added Sebastian Wilkins, who has elected to red shirt this season.
Last Time Out:
The Blue Devils defeated Army on Veterans Day 114-59, with standout performances by Duke’s Dame Sarr and Isaiah Evans. After both Duke’s dynamic wings having subpar games against Western Carolina, where neither hit a 3-point shot and combined to go 1-12 from the floor, they answered the bell and early against Army. Within the first 14 seconds of the game, Isaiah Evans nailed his first 3-point shot on his way to shooting 4-8 from beyond the arc and 5-10 overall. Evans also showed off some flashy passing, dishing 3 assists, ending the contest having scored 17 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. Dame Sarr would show why scouts are high on his game, he seemed to catch fire in the first half, scoring a team high 19 points on 6-8 shooting and 3 for 5 from beyond the arc. The most impressive part of his game rarely shows on the stat sheet, but his ability to hound ball handlers on the perimeter is elite, and he ended up with 3 takeaways but a lot more deflections that disrupted the Army offense. Cayden Boozer showed in this game what makes him a special talent at the guard spot, dishing 8 assists to go with his 10 points. Duke’s point guard tandem combines for 12 assists and 3 turnovers – numbers the staff have to be delighted with.
Stats Comparison
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 3 | 40.0 | 29.7 | 60.3 | .492 | 18.0 | 29.7 | .607 | 11.7 | 30.7 | .380 | 23.7 | 30.7 | .772 | 12.3 | 33.0 | 45.3 | 20.3 | 7.7 | 3.7 | 10.0 | 17.3 | 94.7 |
| Indiana State | 3 | 40.0 | 28.7 | 61.3 | .467 | 22.0 | 35.3 | .623 | 6.7 | 26.0 | .256 | 17.3 | 24.0 | .722 | 13.7 | 25.3 | 39.0 | 17.3 | 7.7 | 2.7 | 14.3 | 16.0 | 81.3 |
Projected Starters
Duke Blue Devils
G Caleb Foster 6’4, 205lbs Jr.
G Isaiah Evans 6’6, 180lbs So.
G Dame Sarr 6’8, 190lbs Fr.
F Cameron Boozer 6’9, 250lbs Fr.
C Patrick Ngongba 6’11, 250lbs So.
Indiana State Sycamores
G Xavier Hall 6’0, 185lbs Sr.
G Sterling Young 6’1, 175lbs GS
G Camp Wagner 6’6, 190lbs Jr.
F Ian Scott 6’7, 220lbs GS
C Derek Vorst 6’10, 250lbs Jr.
Final Thoughts
On Paper, obviously the Blue Devils should own this game and handily, but like Western Carolina and Army – I care very little about the final score and how badly they beat a team. What I want to see is how the Blue Devils improve on problem areas and how well they gel.
The first area of concern for me is the Blue Devil perimeter defense. What we’ve seen in Duke’s 3 games is a propensity to miscommunicate and lose connection to shooters on the perimeter, some of this is most like due to new additions to the backcourt and guys in different roles than the previous season. The hope is that repetition breeds good habits, I want to see those good habits forming in this game that is a prelude to a big matchup against Kansas.
Secondly, with several pre-season injuries, the Blue Devils haven’t been able to have extended time together as a unit. This, I believe, has been the cause of several odd miscues during this early part of the season. Some cohesiveness to how Duke operates on offense especially will be a welcome site to all fans.
So, for Indiana State, they are a team that shoots a pretty good amount of 3’s, about 26 per game so far, but I expect that number to rise steadily during the season. They are in the top 3rd in terms of attempts currently, so this is a good chance for the Blue Devils to limit their attempts. Ian Scott, a 6’7 forward, leads the team currently in terms of percentage from beyond that arc at 50%, but that is on just 1.3 attempts per game. I expect him to test Duke’s perimeter defense and shoot closer to 3-4, unless he gets hot – in which case that number could rise. Camp Wager hasn’t stated off the year shooting well from the outside, but he is capable of burying it if he’s open and can get hot – he shot 38 percent last season on 7 attempts per game and 37.5% in his freshman season at Rice. Sterling Young has the best percentage on more than 2 attempts per game at 40%, he’s began the season on a hot streak and with that 3-headed monster on the perimeter, Duke needs to focus on shutting that down.