Even without Greg Paulus Thursday night, the Blue Devils were in good hands against Shaw.
Led by Jon Scheyer's 19-point effort, five players scored in double figures in Duke's 96-45 exhibition win over the Division II Bears.
"We played as hard as them and unselfishly," head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It was good. It was the first college game-even if it's a non-record game-for our freshmen. They handled it pretty well."
Three of those freshmen-Scheyer, Gerald Henderson and Lance Thomas-were in the starting lineup and a fourth, Brian Zoubek, played considerably. But it was Scheyer that stole the show in the first half.
Playing point guard in the absence of Paulus, Scheyer hit six of eight from the field-including three from behind the arc-for 17 first-half points.
"I just shot the ball with confidence tonight," Scheyer said. "It's great to play together and play against other people. It was a great feeling having the crowd behind us, too."
Scheyer was far from alone, however, in leading Duke's offense. Sophomore Josh McRoberts was everywhere on the court-even bringing the ball up at times-dribbling through the Shaw defense and setting up his teammates with no-look passes.
"He put it on the floor a few times and made something happen off the dribble," Shaw head coach Robert Brickey said. "And that's pretty impressive when you're 6-foot-11."
The sophomore, who played in the shadow of Shelden Williams last season, broke out with 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists and four steals-all in 25 minutes.
Thomas, DeMarcus Nelson and Marty Pocius also scored in double figures for the Blue Devils, who need to replace the 45.6 points per game J.J. Redick and Williams averaged last season.
Pocius, in particular, came out hot in the second half with eight points and a spectacular block in a span of three minutes.
"Marty played very well tonight," Krzyzewski said. "It's the best he's tried to play defense. He was 3-for-3 in the 2nd half. He had six assists and no turnovers. He's a kid that can be in there and light a fire."
Duke's offensive onslaught was triggered by its pressure defense, which converted 29 Shaw turnovers into 40 points. Thomas led the way with five of the team's 18 steals in the game. In addition, the Blue Devils took three charges in the first half.
"We have big wings that are athletic," Krzyzewski said. "They're trying to play our defense very well."
The infusion of athleticism is a welcome change from last season's team, which often struggled against more agile teams like Georgetown and Louisiana State.
Henderson, Thomas and Dave McClure-who returned after redshirting last season while recovering from a knee injury-lend Duke more versatility on both ends of the floor.
"Because [McClure's] strong, he can cover a number of different positions," Krzyzewski said. "We're even trying to use he and [Henderson] on the ball so it doesn't wear DeMarcus out."
The Blue Devils' versatility extends to the offensive end, where an improved transition game should take pressure off their three-point shooting.
Without Paulus, Scheyer served as Duke's main ball handler. McRoberts, Nelson and Jordan Davidson also ran the offense for stretches of the game.
"This experience with the ball is a good one [for Scheyer], because-he can start with Greg obviously-but he can also back him up," Krzyzewski said. "It gives us a good rotation."
Duke's transition game will only be helped when Paulus returns, which could be as soon as the regular-season opener Nov. 12, Krzyzewski said.
The Blue Devils will complete their exhibition season Saturday night when they host North Carolina Central at 7 p.m.
"It's a really good time," Krzyzewski said. "We did it before, but this year, it's even better that we're doing it. I hope that both teams play well but also that it's a nice celebration of Durham because we have two such classy universities."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.