It’s always hard to really judge an exhibition game that occurs in October and is the first game of any sort the team has played against anyone not wearing the same uniform. Some things are to be expected, and something may be surprising. The Blue Devils began the game with a flourish, racing out to an early double-digit lead, 16-4, on the back of three-pointers from Evans, Harris and Cameron Boozer. UCF, the more experienced team (sort of) didn’t get rattled and responded with a 14-4 run, capped by a personal seven-point burst from Jordan Burks, to pull UCF back within two, 20-18, with just under 10 minutes before halftime. The Blue Devils would own the halftime lead by just 1 point. Duke would eventually go down by 3 to the Knights early in the second half before exploding for 21 of the game’s next 25 points. Duke never really looked back after that, with Cameron Boozer providing the majority of Duke’s offense, scoring a game high 33 points in his college basketball debut. Duke would go on to win 96-71, eventually figuring things out defensively after a very rough outing on that side of the floor. Burks would only go on to score 3 points in the second half against Duke, scoring 21 overall.
Duke was without Maliq Brown (knee) and Dame Sarr (oblique) in the game against UCF, who returned just one reserve player from last year’s squad, which by all accounts robbed them of their best defenders but suffice to say Jon Scheyer could not have been happy with the lapses on that side of the floor. Time after time, especially in the first half Duke was slow on defensive rotations, time after time the Blue Devils missed opportunities to communicate costing them points as UCF took full advantage of Duke’s youth. Duke also failed to locate in transition defense also costing them bucket after bucket. While the second half saw Duke tighten the reigns there were still plenty of elements to clean up and learn from.
Cam Boozer, throughout the game, was Duke’s go-to scorer, showing his motor and ease in which he plays the game. He led the Blue Devils in points and rebounds, with 33 and 12. Cayden Boozer led the team with 5 assists to just one turnover, and Caleb Foster nearly matched him with 4 assists with zero turnovers. Nik Khamenia and Isaiah Evans scored 14 each, with Khamenia pulling down 8 rebounds and Evans hitting 3 of his 10 3-point attempts. Overall, the Blue Devils shot 34% from 3-point range while holding the Knights to 26.7%. The rebounding battle was won by the Blue Devils, who held a 54-41 edge. Even with the sloppy game being the first for both teams, it was relatively clean, with Duke turning the ball over 8 times and just 10 for the Knights.
If you can glean anything from game one, it’s the same thing you would have said prior to the game. Duke has a lot to work on, the same can be said of every team in October. If Duke was a finished product now, I think there’d be far more to worry about. But taking an honest eye, there were two glaring things.
1. Defensive rotations have to be cleaned up, there is no Cooper Flagg to make dynamic mind-boggling plays to cover up mistakes, so Duke has to be a lot more sound there.
2. Movement, it was missing for large swaths of time during Duke’s offensive possessions. Movement is your greatest weapon on offense. If you are not making your defender think and react, then you become that much easier to defend.
But the biggest takeaway from last night’s exhibition game against UCF is we back baby!!!
DUKE HEAD COACH JON SCHEYER
Opening Statement:
“I was anxious for tonight, just to learn more about our team. Just so you guys are aware of my history with Johnny Dawkins, when I was being recruited by Duke, over and over again you’d hear about [Johnny Dawkins]. I would argue Johnny Dawkins is as important of a player that has ever come to Duke; just what he has done. I played for him for two years. He has always been incredible to me, to the program, and so it’s an honor to have him back tonight. His team is older, athletic, and they gave us a lot of problems, which is good. From my perspective, I learned more about our team because this is our first time playing against anybody else, but also, we haven’t even had the consistency with our practices. You know, Maliq [Brown] has been out, Dame [Sarr] is out, and so it gets to a time where you have to get on the floor and learn about your team. There is a ton we have to work on. There is a lot we have to get better at, but I did like the competitiveness. I did like the fire that we showed. We may not be deep, in terms of numbers, but I think our depth is in our versatility with the different lineups we can play. So, I think for me as a coach and our coaching staff, that is going to be something we have to figure out. It is going to take some time to understand some rotations and how to play our guys in the best way possible because we can put some different lineups on the floor.”
On the absence of Maliq Brown and Dame Sarr and an update on their progress
“Well, [Maliq and Dame] are two of our best defenders, if not the best. They have versatility. Both of those guys really can guard, Maliq, one through five, as well as anybody in the country, and Dame, one through four, pretty effortlessly. Their versatility on the defensive end is where we miss them the most. And then on offense, they are both great connectors. They know how to play. Both of them. [Their injuries are] not serious. Dame strained his oblique. Hopefully he can start to practice this week; I don’t know about Sunday yet. Maliq, frankly, probably could have played. I’m just being cautious with him. The goal, ultimately, is to be ready for the season in the best way possible. We will reevaluate him this weekend to see if he can do anything.”
On Cameron Boozer’s 33 points and 12 rebound games
“Thought he was pretty good. He is a warrior, man. I think that’s the best thing I can say about him. He’s a warrior, competitor, and obviously he impacted the game in a lot of different ways, including getting fouled and getting us to the bonus early. I thought he had such a professional approach. I was happy that he had to play through some extended minute, with the lack of depth with Maliq being out. He’s just a big-time winner. So again, for me, it is not about comparing anything other than I thought that he was a high-level player, as good as it gets tonight, and I know there is even more there that we can help him with. The great part about him, you know he’s thinking about all the things he could have done better. That is what makes him who he is.”
On defensive adjustments responding to UCF’s strong first half led by Jordan Burks
“Really it is just ramping up our everything on that end. Our physicality. I thought we were soft guarding the ball at times. A couple of times we just left [Jordan Burks] one pass away. He’s a good player, and we watched him on film. He’s talented and a very good player. He has a really good game. But for us, we always talk about responding. First half, learn from it, and we talked about that adjustment of ramping up our pickup point and our physicality. I thought our guys did a better job the second half of that.”
SOPHOMORE GUARD/FORWARD ISAIAH EVANS:
On the first true game in Cameron Indoor Stadium this season: “It was great. You know Cameron’s always going to be Cameron. It’s great to get a home game and get that feeling under us.”
On the play of Duke freshman Cameron Boozer: “He was the guy that we always knew he was. He was being aggressive, picking his spots, and not settling. That’s the result.”
When asked what the difference was between the first and second half for Duke: “It was really us. I think we were settling a lot, [committing] a lot of turnovers, and then we just started letting up on defense. Once we just tightened those things up, obviously, the game flipped. [In the second half], we were great. We were in our defensive gaps, we were rebounding, getting stops, and playing together.”
When asked to evaluate the play of the Duke freshmen: “The freshmen were really good. I think our freshmen play a little bit older, a little bit smarter, especially because they buy into what we’re trying to do. I feel like we’ve got the best freshmen in the country.”
FRESHMAN FORWARD CAMERON BOOZER:
On how it felt to finally play his first game in Cameron Indoor Stadium: “It felt great. Great environment. Great first game. UCF, they gave us a tough matchup. We needed one and needed some adversity, so it felt good. It’s special. I think it’s more special just getting the win. That was a great first matchup. UCF is a good team. They’re going to be good this year. That was the main thing – we just wanted to get better.” “[UCF] had 39 points at half, which is too many. You can’t win basketball games like that. That was the main message [at halftime]. I feel like we played with more poise in the second half, slowed down a little bit, played off two feet, moved the ball a little bit more. We definitely came out with more energy – a better half for sure.”
On the upcoming matchup against Tennessee: “I think it starts on the defensive end, making them miss, making things tough for them. We had a couple miscommunications in the first half defensively, so I think that’s the main focus going into our next game.”
FRESHMAN GUARD/FORWARD NIKOLAS KHAMENIA:
When asked how the past couple of months has prepared him to compete in college basketball: “We all come to Duke to get better. We know every day is not going to be easy. Competing against these guys has only made me better. Coming in, my first day to now, I’ve improved and it’s thanks to these guys. Obviously, playing with better players helps you get better.” “I’ve just got to keep attacking every day, not get satisfied, keep trying to win every possession, keep trying to win every game, and just controlling what I can control. It’s not easy getting to this point. I think anybody in this locker room can say that. From when we were young kids to now, even coming in this summer, you go through things as a freshman. I remember, we had an early practice when I came back from USA [Basketball] and it was like 6 a.m., and it was one of my toughest practices. You know, you get down on yourself, but there’s always the next day that you have to attack.”