Following Tuesday’s defeat at the hands of Kentucky, No. 6 Duke men’s basketball returned to Cameron Indoor Saturday to take on Wofford. The Blue Devils’s attempt to bounce back is successful at half, dominating the Terriers 51-14:
Rebound
… but not like that. The Blue Devils haven’t lost the game after their first loss since 2015, when the soon-to-be national champions dropped back-to-back contests in conference play to N.C. State and Miami. The Blue Devils started cold, shooting 0-for-4 from the field, but after a pair of Tyrese Proctor triples and Kon Knueppel adding his own, Duke took the lead for good. Returning home to a raucous Cameron Indoor Stadium after facing Kentucky in a hostile State Farm Arena was undoubtedly nice for head coach Jon Scheyer’s team, as the Crazies brought all of their usual energy — and then some.
Injury recovery
After struggling with cramping against the Wildcats, freshman center Khaman Maluach returned to Scheyer’s starting lineup. Three minutes into the contest, the Rumbek, South Sudan, native was replaced by junior Maliq Brown before removing his shoe on the bench and having his foot attended to by the Duke training staff. Seeming okay, the 7-foot-2 rim runner rejoined the game with an emphatic alley-oop from Sion James. James himself was injured following a collision with a Kentucky screen Tuesday. The Tulane transfer was sorely missed for the rest of the marquee matchup, but there don’t appear to be any lingering effects.
Patrick stars
In his season debut, freshman Patrick Ngongba II was welcomed to the game with thunderous applause from the Cameron Crazies. The St. Paul VI product — who suffered a foot injury and got surgery last December — adds important depth to Duke’s frontcourt. Scheyer seemed more willing to run double-big lineups with Ngongba in the fold, as the Manassas, Va., native saw action in the frontcourt alongside Maliq Brown, including banking home a layup off of a feed from classmate Cooper Flagg. Previously, Brown and Maluach shared the center position, and the addition of Ngongba adds more depth to Duke’s paint unit.
Raining threes
After a meager 4-for-23 performance from beyond the arc in Tuesday’s loss, the Blue Devils surpassed that mark with 10:29 left in the half, as James buried the team’s fifth triple. The team ended the half with eight, as five different players connected from three. Excellent shooting was predicted to be a hallmark of this season’s group, and if Saturday’s performance is any indicator, Tuesday will figure to be an off night, rather than a harbinger of future disappointments. On the other side of the floor, Wofford’s performance left a lot to be desired, shooting a paltry 2-for-19 from behind the arc and finishing with only 14 total points.
Player of the half: Tyrese Proctor
One of Duke’s two returning starters this season, Scheyer’s floor general brought a bit of everything to the floor. The sophomore from Sydney led his team with twelve points on efficient shooting — 4-for-6 from the field, including 3-for-4 from three. Although excellent from the field, Proctor had a versatile half. The 6-foot-5 point guard added two rebounds, two assists and a steal to his statline. Halves like this represent the best of Proctor’s game, with the former five-star recruit playing high-efficiency offense and disruptive defense.
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