Jon Scheyer will lead his team on to the floor of Cameron Indoor Stadium in his third season opener on Monday night as the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils host the Maine Black Bears. The last two seasons ended with an ACC Tournament Championship in Year One and an Elite Eight appearance in Year Two, but the goals for this year’s team are laser-focused on hanging another banner in the rafters.
Two exhibition games in the preseason showcased just how dangerous of a team on both ends of the court this Duke team is, as they beat Lincoln 107-56 and Arizona State 103-47 on successive weekends. One of the most striking stats to me, aside from the margin of victory, was that no player for the Blue Devils played more than 25 minutes and there were equal contributions up and down the roster.
With the preseason out of the way, Cooper Flagg will dominate the storylines but this team is deep down to ten guys (and will be eleven once Patrick Ngongba is fully healthy). It’s hard to remember a roster in recent memory with so much talent, but with three freshmen in the projected starting lineup there will be plenty of bumps and bruises along the way.
In the win over Arizona State this past weekend, Flagg joined fellow freshmen Kon Knueppel and Khaman Maluach in the starting lineup alongside returning backcourt standouts Tyrese Proctor and Caleb Foster. That’s the expected rotation on the court on Monday night as well, with graduate transfers Maliq Brown, Mason Gillis and Sion James as the first three guys off the bench. Freshmen Darren Harris and Isaiah Evans have been making up the rest of the rotation in the first two games the team has played another opponent.
HOW TO FOLLOW
Duke (0-0) vs Maine (0-0)
Monday, November 4, 2024 • 7:00 PM
Durham, NC • Cameron Indoor Stadium
TV/Streaming • ACC Network
Radio • Blue Devils Sports Network from LEARFIELD
