#16 Duke Blue Devils (8-3, 0-1 ACC) vs. Queens Royals (6-8, 0-0 Atlantic Sun)

TV/Video Stream The CW
Play-by-Play Tom Werme
Analyst Mike Gminski
Director Ken Neal
Producer Casey Carter

Radio Blue Devil Sports Net.
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 109 or 193

Queens enters Saturday with a 6-8 record and coming off of a 30 point loss to the Clemson Tigers where AJ McKee and BJ McLaurin scored 18 points a piece. The Royals have connected on 10 or more 3-pointers in seven of their 13 games, averaging 10.0 made triples per contest. Queens averages 29.6 3-point attempts per game, including three outings with 40 or more shots from long distance (season-high 42 vs. Clemson). Of the Royals’ 917 field goal attempts, 414 (45.1%) are from beyond the arc. Queens ranks fourth in the Atlantic Sun in scoring, averaging 80.7 points per contest. The Royals posted a record of 18-15 overall and 7-11 in the Atlantic Sun Conference in their first season of Division I competition.

AJ McKee is the fifth-leading scorer in the ASUN with 17.5 points per outing for the Royals, while Deyton Albury ranks ninth at 15.6. Queens boasts 4 of their 5 starters posting double-figure scoring averages led by the aforementioned AJ McKee. Deyton Albury leads the Royals in assists with 4.4 per game to go along with his 15.6 points per contest. Senior forward BJ McLaurin leads the team in rebounding at 6.3 per game to go along with his 12.7 points.

The Blue Devils check in with an 8-3 record overall and 0-1 in the ACC. They are currently on a 3 game winning streak. Last time out Duke beat a top 10 Baylor squad in MSG 78-70, it was the Blue Devils’ first victory over a top-10 team since defeating top-ranked Gonzaga, 84-81, on Nov. 26, 2021.

Among ACC leaders, Kyle Filipowski ranks seventh in scoring (17.9 ppg), fifth in rebounding (9.3 rpg) and seventh in blocked shots (1.7 bpg). Filipowski leads the Blue Devils in all 3 categories – he’s also averaging 3.,1 assists per game.

Jeremy Roach clocks at second on the team in scoring per game at 15.1 per contest to go along with his 3.3 assists per game. In the past five games, Roach has distributed 22 assists with just three turnovers, while averaging 19.4 points and 3.8 rebounds per contest and shooting 55.6% (30-for-54) from the field, including 10-of-16 from long distance (62.5%).

Jared McCain was recognized as the CBS Sports/United States Basketball Writers association (USBWA) Freshman of the Week for his performance during the Blue Devils’ 78-70 victory over No. 10 Baylor. The freshman guard scored a game-high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range, and a perfect 4-of-4 in free throws, while adding three assists and two rebounds. McCain is averaging 10.5 points per game for the Blue Devils.

Mark Mitchell is averaging 11.3 points per game for the Blue Devils despite still searching for consistency in his 3-point shot. Sophomore Tyrese Proctor is still an unknown for the Saturday game, and hasn’t played since the December 2nd loss to Georgia Tech where he sustained an ankle injury early in the contest. Proctor as missed the last 3 games for the Blue Devils. Prior to his injury Proctor was averaging 10.3 points per game and 4.5 assists.

Duke ranks fourth nationally in fewest turnovers per game (8.9) and seventh in assist/ turnover ratio (ACC-best 1.83). Duke is 34-5 overall and has won 13 consecutive games played on Dec. 30. The Blue Devils have won all 17 contests inside Cameron Indoor Stadium on this date.

G Jeremy Roach 6’2, 180lbs SR
G Caleb Foster 6’5, 197lbs FR
G Jared McCain 6’3, 197lbs FR
F Mark Mitchell  6’9, 232lbs SO
C Kyle Filipowski 7’0, 248lbs SO

G AJ McKee 6’2, 200lbs JR
G Deyton Albury 6’2, 190lbs JR
G Chris Ashby 6’2, 185lbs JR
F Bryce Cash 6’5, 210lbs FR
F BJ McLaurin 6’8, 230lbs SR

The Blue Devils are on a 3-game winning streak and are looking for consistency. Baylor was a huge win to cap off their non-conference ranked opponents now what happens when the lights aren’t quite as bright – can Duke sustain that momentum. It all starts with Duke’s defense and guard play when Duke’s guards are rebounding and working the ball around, making extra passes – good things are happening on offense.

The common thread between Duke’s last several opponents is guard play, Queens is no different. Duke will have to once again prioritize defending the 3-point line while giving enough space to not put Kyle Filipowski in trouble. The Blues Devils defense seems to struggle at times with defensive rotations in the paint. When the guards are beaten and Filipowski challenges Duke has been slow to recover thus leading to easy dump-offs for opposing bigs. It will be interesting to see how the Blue Devils adjust – either the guards are going to have to give more space on the drive or the recovery rotations are going to have to come quicker.

The Blue Devils should have a decided height advantage with only one player for the Royals over 6’7 averaging in double-figure minutes.