No. 3 Duke men’s basketball is on the second leg of its homestand against the ACC’s West Coast squads. After 20 minutes of play, the Blue Devils lead Stanford 49-34:
Blakes is back
Graduate transfer Jaylen Blakes returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the first time since leaving Duke after three seasons. The guard has excelled in a starting role for the Cardinal this season, entering the contest averaging 14.5 points, 3.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game on career-high efficiency.
Blakes was given a warm welcome back to his former stomping grounds during starter introductions. The Somerset, N.J., native’s highlight of the year so far was one that brought a smile to the faces of Blue Devil fans, draining a go-ahead jumper in the final seconds of Stanford’s Jan. 18 win against North Carolina to give the Cardinal a statement victory on the road. Blakes’ return began unceremoniously, though, as he failed to get on the scoresheet.
Khaman kicks it off
Tasked with defending talented center and ACC player of the year contender Maxime Raynaud, Duke center Khaman Maluach was everywhere early. The freshman forced a turnover in the opening minute, then rolled off a screen to the basket to throw down a lob for the game’s first points.
The Rumbek, South Sudan, native sat for a few minutes after picking up a foul, but returned to the contest and quickly made his presence felt again. Maluach entered and immediately guarded the ball on a Stanford inbound play, forcing head coach Kyle Smith to use his second timeout under eight minutes in. Then, a monstrous block on Chisom Okpara from the 7-foot-2 big man gave the Blue Devils possession, and he cashed in on the other end with a forceful dunk over Raynaud. Maluach finished the half with eight points and three rebounds.
Ball security
Despite the early back-and-forth scoring, Duke was eventually able to pull away from the Cardinal thanks to dominating the turnover battle. The Blue Devils entered the contest averaging 10 giveaways per game, but strong ball security and smart passes limited Duke to just one turnover in the period on an errant pass from freshman Isaiah Evans. Graduate transfer Sion James led the way with five assists in the half.
On the other end, Stanford turned the ball over six times, allowing the Blue Devils to run in transition and find advantages on offense. The suffocating Duke defense — which forces 12 turnovers per game — led to eight points off of the takeaways.
On fire from deep
Both sides lit it up from downtown in the first half, making for a high-octane affair. For the Blue Devils, the threes came early and often off the fingertips of a number of different shooters. All of the Duke starters with the exception of Maluach connected on a trey in the period, and graduate Mason Gillis added one as well. Stanford responded with 3-pointers of their own, shooting 50.0% from deep, including Raynaud knocking down 4-of-7 attempts en route to 18 first-half points.
With the Blue Devils in the midst of their breakaway run, junior guard Tyrese Proctor received a pass from Maliq Brown in the right corner and promptly rose up to knock down his second three of the game, extending Duke’s lead to 40-22 with six minutes and change remaining in the half.
Player of the half: Tyrese Proctor
Continuing his recent stretch of exceptional play, Proctor tallied another efficient performance in the opening period against the Cardinal. The Sydney native got on the board by cutting through the lane and finishing at the rim off a pass from Maliq Brown. He quickly followed it up with a catch-and-shoot three to cap off great ball movement from the Blue Devils and give them a 16-13 lead.
Proctor ended the half with 17 points on an impressive 7-of-11 shooting clip, including cashing in three of his six attempts from beyond the arc.
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