I’m not a big fan of change in college basketball, not because I’m an old man (which I am), but because the sport has always been beautiful the way it is. What I do like are the trends of college coaches testing their teams earlier in the season. I’ve always been okay with coaches ramping up competition slowly, which is certainly a valid way to get your team ready for March, but scheduling really tough games with no real consequences as early as you can can be invaluable. I’m glad Jon Scheyer adopted this approach to planning. There’s not much you can do in the way of practice to simulate live game action, where you can perform your plays, routines in a game situation, with a crowd and with a coach doing his best to stop you.
In their first exhibition, the Blue Devils, a decidedly young team and not at full strength, struggled early against a team of veterans in UCF. Adjustments were made at halftime and Duke cruised to victory with 25 points. The most important thing wasn’t the win, but the game tape they acquired to coach with, uncovering the bad habits and seeing who you can trust on the bench. Next up for the Blue Devils was Tennessee, an even tougher challenge – and on the way. Tennessee, ranked in the top 15 this season, is a Rick Barnes-led team known for its physicality and toughness. These are exactly the traits that Jon Scheyer knows his team will have to overcome more than any other team this season to be successful.
Tennessee scored the first points of the game, but Duke quickly followed with a Patrick Ngongba II tip-in on an offensive rebound. After the Volunteers took an early seven-point lead, 11-4, Isaiah Evans connected on Duke’s first three-pointer of the game to pull Duke within four points. As expected, a tough, older Tennessee team exerted their will on the Blue Devils early, but the Blue Devils kept it close in the first stanza on the strength of Cam Boozer. Tennessee would push their lead to 8 points several times before Cam Boozer hit a mid-range jumper in the waning moments of the first half to pull the Blue Devils within 6 points at the break.
An Isaiah Evans strike started the second half for Duke, foreshadowing a tougher effort from Duke in the second half. A 9-0 run right out of the gate gave the Blue Devils a lead they would never surrender. The Volunteers responded with eight of the next 10 points, cutting Duke’s lead to two, 62-60, going into the under-12 timeout, but the Blue Devils would go on a 20-20 run from the free throw line in the second half to win the game 83-76.
Cam Boozer led the Blue Devils with a mature game of 24 points, 23 rebounds and 6 assists. Isaiah Evans added 22 points on 4-9 shooting from beyond the arc and 5 rebounds, and sophomore center Patrick Ngongba bounced back from a subpar game at home against UCF to add 15 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks.
Of course, Duke and Tennessee remain 0-0 this season, but both teams will be much better after this game. Master the strokes of both coaches to plan a match like this. Especially for the Blue Devils, not because they won, but because of the lessons you can only learn in game action – especially when dealing with end-of-game situations against an experienced team, the one area where Duke struggled last season.
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