No. 7 Duke men’s basketball welcomed Arizona State — and former Blue Devil Bobby Hurley — to Cameron Indoor for a charity exhibition matchup. After 20 minutes of play, Duke holds a commanding 37-21 lead on the visiting Sun Devils:
Brotherhood runs deep
Exhibition games are nothing new in college basketball. There’s a reason so many teams schedule them before the season starts — there’s only so much you can learn by scrimmaging yourself.
But Sunday’s exhibition can hardly be considered a “traditional” exhibition. Aside from playing a fellow Power 4 team, the Blue Devils are doing so against legendary player-turned-coach Bobby Hurley with proceeds directed to the Duke Children’s Hospital. The emotional bond between Hurley and Duke was evident well before tipoff, with Hurley, head coach Jon Scheyer and former head coach Mike Krzyzewski embracing at midcourt to a standing ovation from home fans. The lack of impact on record and camaraderie didn’t diminish the level of play or crowd energy, which seemed to quickly forget this was an exhibition.
Freshman firepower
Two of the most talented scorers on Duke’s roster, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel, showed exactly why they hold that title in this opening half. Flagg was characteristically versatile and looked a threat whenever he had the ball, fighting for space in the post and opening up his guards outside by drawing extra defenders. Knueppel was the beneficiary of his classmate’s work rate, earning four points, five rebounds and a team-leading three assists by half’s end.
We didn’t see much of Darren Harris or Isaiah Evans — potent scorers in their own right — in the first half, but their fellow freshmen more than pulled their weight.
Sun in Devils’ eyes
For all of Duke’s offensive brilliance, it was helped enormously by Arizona State’s comparative inefficiency. The Sun Devils made just two of their first 15 shots compared to the Blue Devils’ 9-for-22 clip in that span, and only stayed competitive in the opening stretch due to a perfect rate from the stripe and a brief Duke scoring drought. Even if the home side’s production tanked as the half wore on, that early lapse by the visitors ensured a comfortable lead.
Beyond overall shooting woes, there were two areas in which both teams struggled: keeping hold of the ball and, unsurprisingly, shooting from deep. The Blue and Sun Devils surrendered possession a combined 14 times and sank a measly 4-of-24 tries from downtown.
Role players play their roles
Much has been made of Duke’s freshman offensive force, but the rest of the Blue Devil rotation provided the exact kind of production Scheyer needed. Mason Gillis made his impact known with a couple smart drives to the bucket in his first appearance off the bench, while fellow transfers Sion James and Maliq Brown served as more-than-capable deputies as Flagg and Maluach caught their breath. That’s not to mention veteran guards Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster, who quietly combined for 16 points and Duke’s only successful deep shots of the half.
Player of the half: Khaman Maluach
Scheyer mixed up Sunday’s starting lineup from last weekend’s against Lincoln, swapping Sion James for Tyrese Proctor and Maliq Brown for Khaman Maluach. The latter’s impact was evident from the get-go, as the Rumbek, South Sudan, native soared above the Sun Devil defense for an alley-oop by Kon Knueppel to open the scoring. A towering block on the other end and some crafty work in the offensive post (including another slam) that Arizona State just couldn’t stop made for encouraging early signs by the former five-star.
The attention Maluach — and preseason first-team All-ACC classmate Cooper Flagg — drew down low caused Arizona State all sorts of headaches on both ends of the floor as the Blue Devils blitzed their visitors for 37 first-half points. Six belonged to Maluach, plus a team-high seven boards.
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Andrew Long is a Trinity senior and recruitment/social chair of The Chronicle's 120th volume. He was previously sports editor for Volume 119.