Preview: Duke Blue Devils (1-0) vs Army Black Knights (1-0)

#7 Duke Blue Devils (1-0, 0-0 ACC) vs. Army West Point (1-0, 0-0 Patriot)

Game #2 • Home Game #2 • Friday, Nov. 8 • 6 p.m. ET

Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) • Durham, NC

TV: ACC Network

Radio: Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD

Duke is back in action in Cameron Indoor Stadium on Friday, Nov. 8, to host Army West Point at 6 p.m before their marquee matchup with Kentucky on the 12th. Doug Sherman and Chris Spatola will call the action on ACC Network. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network. Duke is ranked No. 7 in the Associated Press preseason top-25 poll.

TV/Video Stream
ACCN
Play-by-Play Doug Sherman
Analyst Chris Spatola
Producer Will Black
Director Chad Lampman

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

Overall

Duke leads, 12-3
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 7-0
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 7-0
In West Point, NY Duke leads, 5-3
at Christl Arena Duke leads, 1-0
Neutral Sites N/A
Last Meeting @Duke 82, Army 56 (Nov. 12, 2021)

Kevin Kuwik is in his second season as head coach at Army West Point. With more than 20 seasons of coaching experience, Kuwik spent the 2022-23 season as an assistant coach at Butler under head coach Thad Matta. The Black Knights are looking to improve on their 10-22 effort last season that saw them drop their first 7 games of the season as well as their last 5. Army had a 6-12 mark in the Patriot League.

The Black Knights return 2023-24 Patriot League Rookie of the Year and their leading scorer Josh Scovens, alongside 1,000-point scorer Jalen Rucker to pair with fellow guard Ryan Curry, a 2023-23 Patriot League All-Rookie Team member.

Army is coming off of a win in their season opening beating the University of Albany 67-59. After shooting under 35% from the field in the first half, the Black Knights connected on 57.1% shots after intermission, including 42.9% from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes. The Black Knights were led by Josh Scovens who scored a game high 22 points. Senior guard Jalen Rucker added 12 points and Blake Barker added 11 in the win. Tate Laczowski led Army in rebounding with 10 off the bench while sophomore guard Ryan Curry dished out 3 assists.

Last Time Out for the Blue Devils No. 7 Duke tipped off the 2024-25 season with a 96-62 defeat of Maine inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on Monday, Nov. 4. The Blue Devils outscored Maine 52-29 in the second half, holding the Black Bears to one field goal in final 10:59 of the contest. Duke outrebounded the visitors 40-27 overall and dominated the glass in the second half with a 24-9 rebounding advantage. Six Blue Devils scored in double figures in Monday night’s victory, marking the first time Duke has had six double-digit scorers since Feb. 19, 2022, versus Florida State. Kon Knueppel scored a game-high 22 points, including 15 in the first 16 minutes, shooting 8-of-14 from the field, 3-of-8 from long range and 3-of-3 from the free-throw line. Cooper Flagg collected 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals to become the first freshman in Duke history to have at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in their debut. Caleb Foster and Sion James each scored 11 points, while Tyrese Proctor and Mason Gillis added 10 points apiece. Khaman Maluach registered six points, six boards and three blocked shots in his collegiate debut. Maliq Brown grabbed seven rebounds to match Flagg for the game-high on the boards, while also distributing four assists.

PG Caleb Foster 6’5, 202lbs – Sophomore
SG Tyrese Proctor 6’6, 183lbs – Junior
SF Kon Knueppel 6’7, 217lbs – Freshman
PF Cooper Flagg 6’9, 205lbs – Freshman
C Khaman Maluach 7’2, 250lbs – Freshman

G Jalen Rucker 5’10, 180lbs – Senior
G Ryan Curry 6’0, 180lbs – Sophomore
G Blake Barker 6’2, 200lbs – Senior
F Josh Scovens 6’6, 220lbs – Sophomore
F AJ Allenspach 6’8, 225lbs – Senior

Army is a scrappy team with a couple of good scoring options. Josh Scoven has proven himself a gamer for the Black Knights. He’s coming off of a rookie of the year season in the Patriot league where he lead Army in scoring and he’s picked up where he left off last season dropping 22 against Albany in their first game.

Scoven has really good touch around the basket, he’s quick and strong especially in the upper body. While he does most of his work in the paint and the mid-range he can also hit the 3 if given space. Ryan Curry is a gifted passer and also a guy Duke cannot leave open in the perimeter.

Starting forward AJ Allenspach is sneaky good offensively, also super strong has a nice fadeaway jumper. He allows Army to really spread the floor but for the most part offensively he is going to do his work in the mid-range and at the basket. Blake Barker isn’t a consistent outside shooter but has the ability to get hot in spurts. Barker doesn’t need a lot of space to get a shot off but I think the Duke size should mitigate that.

The Blue Devils will need to be careful with their ball handling. Army is going to look to be pesky in on-ball situations and are fairly adept at poking it free. Getting in transition and back door plays are going to be opportunities that the Black Knights are going to look toward to try to stay within reach of the Blue Devils. Duke will have to work at defending the post without fouling – especially against Scoven who uses his angles very adeptly. For a guy who only goes about 6’6 he plays much bigger.

I think Duke wins handily but this is a game where discipline may be tested more so than anything for Duke.