After each Duke men’s basketball game of the season, check back here for the Player of the Game and more. Today, the Blue Zone breaks down Ryan Young's double-double in the Blue Devils' dominant win against Florida State:
One player: Ryan Young
The Blue Devils, led by graduate transfer Ryan Young, capped off 2022 with a decisive 86-67 win against Florida State. Young began the home game on the bench, but proved to be just the player Duke needed to outlast the Seminoles. The New Jersey native quite literally had the perfect afternoon: He did not miss a single shot.
With freshman big Kyle Filipowski in early foul trouble, Young stepped up to fill in where Filipowski typically thrives: under the basket. Young was a constant force beneath the glass, going 7-of-7 from the field and 6-of-6 from the line to earn 20 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for the double-double. His rallying leadership, along with two other double-digit Duke scorers in Jaylen Blakes and Dariq Whitehead, gave the Blue Devils the edge they needed to overcome Florida State and put the loss to Wake Forest firmly behind them.
One word: Defense
Another key to Duke’s success came from its ability to stop Florida State’s offensive drives. The Blue Devils’ first line of defense began, surprisingly enough, during their own offensive possessions. Missed triples, lay-ups or jumpers were rebounded most frequently by Young, Filipowski, Mark Mitchell and Jeremy Roach. Duke had 32 total rebounds for the afternoon compared to Florida State’s 24. This prevented the Seminoles from gaining possession of the ball to begin with. The defense kept Florida State’s star player, sophomore guard Matthew Cleveland, to just 28.6% shooting from the field. As a result, the Seminoles were forced to turn to their bench for help. The team’s lack of depth was exposed with the bench yielding just eight points. The nail in the coffin was a late second-half cold spell that allowed the Blue Devils to go on one of their iconic scoring runs.
One stat: 46 Blue Devil bench points
Though Florida State lacks depth in its bench, Duke does not. Over half of the Blue Devils’ total points came from outside of their starting five. Young contributed 20 of the 46 bench points Duke put up, with 16 more coming from Whitehead. The bench out-scoring the starting five emphasizes that head coach Jon Scheyer has plenty of talent to choose from when creating the team’s starting lineup. Perhaps this proves that Young and Whitehead deserve starting spots against N.C. State. Or, it may show that it does not matter who starts, as multiple players can step up. Nevertheless, variability of players is crucial to the Blue Devils’ continued success in future games.
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