The Duke basketball team of 2023–24 won handily in its home away from home.
Jon Scheyer’s Duke basketball team was winless in their previous two meetings with top-10 opponents, having lost to Baylor, which was ranked 10th, in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. And for a spell, particularly in the first few minutes of the second half, it appeared as though the No. 21 Blue Devils would easily finish with a 0–3 record.
However, Scheyer, who is in his second season as head coach, started to show more energy on the bench. Much more often than just sitting and watching the action unfold, he stood, paced, and yelled. His increased passion appeared to be contagious, as his Blue Devils overcame the opposition to win 78–70.
Rookie guard Jared McCain led the five Duke starters who finished with double digits in points, scoring 21 points on 7 of 11 field goals, 3 of 6 three-pointers, and 4 of 4 free throws.
For the entirety of the 40-minute game, it was a back-and-forth battle. Encouraged by an audience nearly twice as large as Cameron Indoor Stadium could hold, the game was played at the neutral location. Having scored 21 points on 7 of 11 shots, tying his career high, Jared McCain led the winning effort.
The score was tied at 61-61 with six minutes remaining in the second half. With less than ninety seconds remaining, the Blue Devils then went on a 14-1 run to virtually guarantee the victory.
After the decisive victory, head coach Jon Scheyer remarked, “We felt like this was our moment.”
Things to be Aware Of
As part of the 2023 SentinelOne Classic, the top-ranked Baylor Bears and top-ranked Duke Blue Devils will square off on Wednesday night in New York’s Madison Square Garden. After losing 88-64 to Michigan State on Saturday, the Bears (9-1) will try to bounce back from their tie for third place in the Big 12 Conference with Kansas State at 11-7 and their 23-11 record from a year ago. The Blue Devils (7-3) have won two straight, most recently defeating Hofstra 89-68 on December 12. They finished 2022–23 with a 27-9 overall record, tied for third in the Atlantic Coast Conference with Clemson and Pittsburgh at 14-6.
Duke Blue Devils
Just over 25 minutes into the second quarter, a McCain layup sent Duke reeling. The Blue Devils’ lead was widened to two after two free throws from McCain, but they surrendered eight straight points while their own attempts were unsuccessful due to turnovers and misses. After missing field goals for over three minutes, Mark Mitchell finally made a basket at the rim to tie the game at 48-44.
With 10 rebounds, Filipowski was useful on both the offensive and defensive glass, but his scoring attempt was ineffective. He finished with 13 points, but only on a pitiful 5-for-14 clip.
As the first half came to an end, the Blue Devils were ahead 26–16.
Baylor Bears
The Bears carried on exactly where they had left off after the half. During the first possession, Filipowski missed a layup, and Walter quickly converted it into a three-pointer and a one-point advantage. He scored the next two points as well, converting a layup following a foul by Mitchell. Duke’s first points came from an offensive board and ensuing dunk by Mitchell, which took almost two minutes. Still, in little over four minutes of play, the Bears turned the ball over three times.
Baylor scored nine unanswered points in less than three minutes. The game, which had appeared to be a blowout for a brief moment, was now only one point, and it would stay that way until the end of the first quarter.
The Bears only had 20 total boards in their defeat to Michigan State. They scored 18 points in 20 minutes against Duke, with 7 of those coming from the 7-foot freshman Yves Missi. With nine of Baylor’s final 13 points in the first half, the center went on a scoring binge, outscoring the Blue Devils for nearly eight minutes.
The guards had fun, just days after Filipowski’s 28-point performance against Hofstra. McCain’s jump shot gave the Blue Devils an early lead and stayed that way until 2:46 remained in the first half. McCain finished with all 11 points at the under-16 media timeout. In addition, Duke was able to capitalize on its own misses even when the shots were not falling; with 11 minutes left in the first quarter, it had four offensive rebounds compared to Baylor’s two defensive rebounds.https://citytimesnow.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3803&action=edit
How to Watch Today’s College Basketball Match Between Duke and Baylor?
Date of the Game: 20 December 2023
Time of the Game: 7:00 PM Eastern Time
