After spending the fall gorging on berries and fish, bears lumber into caves for a monthslong rest during the year’s coldest months.
Even the ruckus Duke created Wednesday night wasn’t enough to wake them up.
Head coach Jon Scheyer’s third-ranked Blue Devils blitzed the lethargic Golden Bears from the jump in their first bout with Cal as ACC foes, storming to a dominant 78-57 win in Cameron Indoor Stadium that avenged Saturday’s disappointment at Clemson. Tyrese Proctor, Khaman Maluach and Cooper Flagg were the architects of Duke’s demolition derby, torching their West Coast opponents for 55 combined points.
"I thought it was a good response," Scheyer said postgame. "Wasn't the prettiest game we've ever played. I thought our guys competed really hard."
It was all international early for the Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1 in the ACC), with 14 of their opening 25 points coming from their pair of foreign-born players. The Australian Proctor was an early difference-maker, sinking a three on Duke’s first offensive possession and a pull-up jumper that gave his team a quick 7-0 lead, sandwiching a put-back from his South Sudanese teammate Maluach.
That duo continued to pester the Golden Bears (12-13, 5-9) throughout the first half — poetically against Cal’s own pair of foreigners. Mady Sissoko, the Golden Bears’ 6-foot-9 center from Mali, was unable to impose himself against Maluach’s towering 7-foot-2 frame in the post. Andrej Stojakovic, Cal’s Greek-born All-ACC scoring phenom, was given one of his toughest tasks of the season managing Duke’s guards on both ends of the floor.
Proctor and Maluach got the second half rolling the same way they did in the first half — using a mix of Proctor’s playmaking and Maluach’s size to rain down on Cal’s defense.
Shortly after surrendering a bucket, Proctor took the ball up the court and spotted a cutting Maluach, lobbing the ball above the rim exactly where he knew his teammate’s hands would be. It was Flagg who provided the feed on the ensuing possession, this time to Proctor, who was given acres of space at the top of the arc as Maluach drew double-teams down low. His 3-point try sailed through without a sound.
"He's a student of the game, so he's been able to grow as the seasons gone along, with his defense, with his switching, with blitzing ball screens," Scheyer said of Maluach. "I don't think his versatility gets talked about enough."
With Cal’s centers rendered near-useless by Maluach and his deputy Maliq Brown, the onus fell on the Golden Bears’ backcourt to close the gap.
Stojakovic, as his team’s primary offensive threat, was forced to create his own shots under heavy pressure from Duke’s outstanding on-ball perimeter defenders. Although he has made a name for himself this season for his ability to succeed with that responsibility, he struggled Wednesday, finishing a mere 4-for-14 from the floor. Freshman guard Jeremiah Wilkinson eventually assumed Stojakovic’s scoring mantle as the game wore on, contributing 21 points on efficient 8-for-17 shooting.
One sequence midway through the first half illustrated the visitors’ frustrating offensive dynamic well.
Cal enjoyed a minute-long stretch of possession due to a string of impressive offensive rebounds. But the Golden Bears missed four straight shots — two from Stojakovic — before the Duke defense caused a turnover. The ball found its way to Maluach’s hands, then to Proctor’s, who sank his second three of the game to begin a 17-8 Blue Devil run that put the hosts in firm control.
"I hadn't shot the ball the best the last three years, but just staying confident, confidence is a big thing," Proctor said. "And I think just having that, no matter makes or misses, is a huge thing."
"It's just his aggressiveness that I love," Scheyer said of Proctor. "His defense and his shooting is big time, and beyond the points, beyond the stats, to me, it's his look. He's just got a veterans look: competitive, poised, tough."
The onslaught didn’t stop at that sequence, especially for Maluach. To the unbridled joy of the Cameron Crazies, the freshman used a Flagg screen to open up space on the perimeter, letting a rare, and successful, 3-ball fly. He also dominated on the glass, registering a colossal 12 rebounds, seven of which helped his team retain possession.
But as it has been for most of the season, Wednesday’s game eventually became about Flagg.
Flagg only grew in confidence after the halftime break, drawing foul after foul as a litany of Cal defenders tried everything they could to stop him. The freshman responded with a perfect clip from the free-throw line and the type of balanced stat line Duke fans have come to expect from the National Player of the Year favorite, leading his team in points, steals and likely places on SportsCenter Top 10.
Perhaps the only play that upstaged Maluach’s three belonged to the Newport, Maine, native. A thunderous dunk stamped a 30-17 Duke lead, and the home squad finished the half up 15, 38-23.
Except Flagg one-upped himself, too, swatting a Cal pass in the air before sprinting down the court with no one in sight. He vaulted upward, twisted 180 degrees and yanked the ball behind his head into the basket.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Sign up for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
"On the scale of all my dunks, I would give that like a five, or six," Flagg said. He added that a 10 would be behind the back or between the legs, though he doubts if that will happen in a game.
Another player whose game improved as the clock wound down was graduate guard Sion James, who took more of a supporting role in Wednesday’s opening act. The Tulane transfer, despite his relative lack of size, was a more effective rebounder than every Cal player and finished second on his team only to Maluach on the boards. The Sugar Hill, Ga., native recorded an astounding eight defensive rebounds, allowing Maluach forward to push himself into offensive sets faster.
"It's been a luxury for us, and unique, having Sion in that spot where he's such a utility guy. He's just such a winning player, and his rebounding is a big part of it, [and] his versatility on defense," Scheyer said. "That's going to be a huge key for us, to get transition pushes, and that's always at our best when our guards rebound."
Come three minutes left in the second half, not a single Duke starter remained on the floor, allowing the Blue Devils to rest for their next clash with a Bay Area adversary — Stanford — in three days’ time.
Andrew Long is a Trinity senior and recruitment/social chair of The Chronicle's 120th volume. He was previously sports editor for Volume 119.