Tag: Jon Scheyer

Staff predictions for Friday’s matchup between Duke basketball and Arizona

Duke basketball is gearing up to take on Arizona this Friday. Check out our Duke Wire staff predictions for the game.

Duke basketball fans probably felt (understandably) disheartened after Tuesday’s loss to the Kentucky Wildcats.

With phenom [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and three other five-star freshmen arriving on campus, the Cameron Crazies had visions of a dominant season that ended with a banner. However, first-year Kentucky coach Mark Pope and his team outscored the Blue Devils 24-11 over the closing stretch for a 77-72 win in the team’s first ranked test on the schedule.

However, the hard truth is that national analysts and fans won’t remember that game by March. The team might not even remember it by the end of the regular season. There’s no faster way to shorten everyone’s memories than with another top-25 win, and the Blue Devils get two chances at one of those in the next week.

First up, a road trip to Tucson for a revenge battle against No. 17 Arizona. The Wildcats, now anchored by former North Carolina Tar Heels star Caleb Love, left Durham with a win last November, and head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] now hopes to return the favor. Here are our staff predictions for Friday’s showdown.

Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor

The most important aspect of this game has been pretty overlooked so far this week: this isn’t the same Arizona team that beat Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Oumar Ballo and Kylan Boswell both transferred, and Keshad Johnson and Pelle Larsson now play professionally. Even with former Tennessee Volunteer Tobe Awaka and some returners stepping forward, that production and leadership will take time to rebuild.

The Blue Devils won’t just get this game handed to them, however. Someone other than Flagg needs to step up down the stretch. The 17-year-old scored 12 of Duke’s last 14 points against Kentucky, and an offensive plan that entirely revolves around him playing hero ball won’t work against the best teams ahead.

With that said, however, I firmly believe Duke’s pathetic 4/24 3-point showing against the Wildcats was a blue-moon event. If the Blue Devils put together even a slightly-below-average game, they’d be undefeated, and that gets rectified in Tucson.

Duke 79, Arizona 61

Bryant Crews, Staff Writer

Scheyer and the Duke Blue Devils hit the road for their first true road game of the 2024-25 season, and as every college basketball watcher knows, those games are always challenging. Pit two top-25 teams against each other and toss in that revenge is on the mind for one with Love, a legendary Duke villain, potentially lacing up his kicks for the last time against a school he has terrorized, and you have a marquee matchup.

These are two gifted teams with talent on both sides. Scheyer scheduled games like these to test and push his squad so that come March and April; the Blue Devils could be ready for a run for the national title. Even though this isn’t a neutral site game, it already has a second weekend of the NCAA Tournament-type feel in November.

Duke is the better team, in my opinion, and still has a substantial amount of room to go. If this were a neutral site, people would be less inclined to think Arizona wins, but Duke’s depth and high-end talent tip the scales even without home-court advantage.

Caleb Foster has to show up, and if Kon Knueppel hits even 25% more shots than he did against Kentucky, Duke should do this by multiple possessions. I don’t see Arizona containing Duke from deep for another 4/24 performance like Atlanta. While Arizona will try to bully the youngster Khaman Maluach inside with older post players, Maluach holds his ground and has three blocks while pulling down at least eight boards.

Sion James and Mason Gillis combined for four made threes off the bench as the Blue Devils roll.

Duke 78, Arizona 71

Josiah Caswell, Staff Writer

Duke’s 2024-25 season has started off strong, but not without blemishes. Despite three blowout victories over weaker competition, the Blue Devils fell short in their matchup with Kentucky.

The Wildcats’ high-percentage performance played a big reason in that loss. Additionally, Flagg struggled in the final seconds despite an overall good game.

Now, Duke goes on the road for the first time against the Wildcats and Love just one year after they took down the Blue Devils in Durham.

Arizona is in a similar spot to Duke, though. Following two massive blowout victories over lesser competition, Arizona fell 103-88 to the Wisconsin Badgers. Love, notably, went 2/13 from the field and 0/6 from behind the arc.

If Arizona is to bounce back and take down Duke, they’ll need to up their 3-point percentage and improve their defense. If the Wildcats let someone on Duke put up 40 points, they certainly won’t be winning.

Duke 86, Arizona 77

Duke basketball narrowly hangs within the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll

The Duke Blue Devils (barely) stayed within the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports Men’s College Basketball Coaches Poll.

Despite suffering their first loss of the season on Tuesday, the Duke Blue Devils grabbed the last spot within the top 10 of the USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball coaches poll on Monday.

Head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] and his team obliterated Wofford at Cameron Indoor Stadium over the weekend, but the performance won’t be enough to erase lingering doubts created by the midweek defeat. The Kentucky Wildcats outscored Duke 24-11 over the final 10 minutes to steal a 77-72 win, and superstar freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] turned the ball over twice on the last two possessions after scoring 26 points.

If Scheyer and the Blue Devils want a chance to erase that memory from all the voters, however, they’ll have chances over the next week. Duke’s next two opponents both sit within the top 20 with Arizona at No. 17 and the Kansas Jayhawks still in the top spot.

Check out the complete results of this week’s coaches poll below:

Rank Team Record Points
1 Kansas 4-0 665 (21)
2 UConn 3-0 632 (3)
3 Auburn 3-0 608 (2)
4 Gonzaga 3-0 599 (1)
5 Iowa State 2-0 516
6 Purdue 4-0 513
7 Houston 2-1 470
7 Alabama 3-1 470
9 Tennessee 4-0 462
10 Duke 3-1 421
11 Kentucky 3-0 381
12 North Carolina 2-1 377
13 Creighton 4-0 348
14 Marquette 4-0 319
15 Baylor 3-1 313
16 Cincinnati 3-0 229
17 Arizona 2-1 228
18 Indiana 3-0 208
19 Florida 4-0 168
20 Illinois 3-0 133
21 St. John’s 4-0 119
22 Texas Tech 3-0 95
23 Texas A&M 3-1 94
24 Arkansas 2-1 82
25 Wisconsin 4-0 75

Dropped Out

No. 22 Ohio State; No. 24 Rutgers

Receiving Votes

Rutgers 56; Xavier 43; Ole Miss 39; BYU 28; Saint Mary’s 18; Pittsburgh 18; Texas 14; Michigan State 9; Mississippi State 5; Oregon 4; Nevada 4; Ohio State 3; Dayton 3; Wake Forest 2; VCU 2; UCF 2

What Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer had to say about Patrick Ngongba’s debut

Duke basketball freshman Patrick Ngongba made his debut on Saturday. Here’s what head coach Jon Scheyer thought of his performance.

Another member of the 2024 Duke basketball recruiting class introduced himself to the Cameron Crazies on Saturday, and head coach Jon Scheyer sounded happy with what he saw.

Patrick Ngongba, a 6-foot-11 center from St. Paul VI Catholic High School in Virginia, checked in for the first time this season during Saturday’s win over Wofford. In just 11 minutes on the court, he finished with two points, six rebounds (five of which came on the offensive glass), two assists, and a steal.

His best sequence of the game came in the final three minutes of the first half when he won two contested offensive rebounds, batting the ball back toward a teammate on the perimeter until fellow freshman Isaiah Evans eventually buried a 3-pointer.

“I’ve watched Pat play for some time now,” Scheyer said after the game. “His feel and instincts as a (6 foot 11 inch) guy with a (7 foot 3 inch) wingspan, or whatever it is, is rare. His ability is special.”

The four-star prospect sat out the first three games of the season with a foot injury, an issue that hindered him in high school as well. Scheyer took time to make sure those behind the scenes helping the young Blue Devil get ready heard their flowers.

“Our medical team has done an incredible job with him,” he said. “Incredible. And it would have been very easy to try to rush him and get him back out there as soon as possible, but our thing was, he’s been through a lot in high school, how can we get him out there pain-free?”

However, if the Cameron Crazies want more time with Ngongba on the court, they might need to wait until his sophomore campaign.

“It’s going to be limited minutes this year,” Scheyer said point-blank. “It just is. We’re cautious with his loads in practice and the science behind it all.”

Despite that, however, Ngongba’s brief time on the court spelled 7-footer Khaman Maluach. With superstar forward Cooper Flagg and Syracuse transfer Maliq Brown both alongside him, Scheyer had three different players at least 6 feet 9 inches tall on the court at one time. The addition of another center, especially one as productive as Ngongba looked on Saturday, can’t be overstated.

“He’s going to continue to grow,” Scheyer concluded. “I understand with him, there’s still going to be some rust. That’s his first game, there’s going to be some rust that he’s got to work through, but I love what he did.”

Every Duke basketball game is ‘a little bit of an experiment’ for head coach Jon Scheyer

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer let fans know that the Blue Devils, with plenty of new talent, will keep evolving throughout the season.

Nine different Duke basketball players scored in the first 20 minutes of Saturday’s blowout win over Wofford, a testament to the depth of head coach Jon Scheyer’s recruiting.

After losing 10 players from last year’s rotation to either the NBA, transfer portal, or expired eligibility, Scheyer replenished his roster with six freshmen and four transfer additions. However, with four top-25 opponents in the first eight games, that also means the third-year coach is meeting his 2024-25 team in real-time.

“It’s not like you’re afforded opportunities to experiment,” Scheyer said. “And really, every game is a little bit of an experiment because it’s my first time with all of these guys except Caleb (Foster) and Tyrese (Proctor).”

The slight unsteadiness, especially in his first-year talent, reared its head in the second half of Tuesday’s loss to the Kentucky Wildcats. Only different eight Blue Devils took the court across the entire game, including Tulane transfer Sion James, who left in the second half with a shoulder injury. Superstar forward [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the only Duke player with a made shot over the final 10 mintues, scored 12 of the team’s last 14 points.

Two players who didn’t sub in against Kentucky, freshmen Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba, made their case for prime minutes on Saturday. Evans scored 14 points in 12 minutes, making four of his seven 3-point tries, and Ngongba came away with five offensive rebounds and two assists in his collegiate debut.

“It’s hard to play eleven guys,” Scheyer said. “So finding out what that balance is, how deep can you go, who can be ready…Just because we start a certain way or play a certain way now doesn’t mean it’s going to end up that way. This is a long process.”

The next step of that process comes on Friday with a road game against Arizona.

Duke basketball drops two spots to fifth in KenPom rankings after Kentucky loss

After Tuesday night’s loss to the Kentucky Wildcats, the Duke Blue Devils dropped down two spots in the KenPom rankings.

The Duke Blue Devils suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday night, dropping a 77-72 game to the Kentucky Wildcats after getting outscored 24-11 over the final 10 minutes.

As a result, head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] and his team slipped down two spots to fifth in the KenPom adjusted efficiency rankings on Wednesday mornings.

The Blue Devils began the year second in the rankings (which contrast adjusted points scored versus adjusted points allowed per 100 possessions) thanks to freshman stars like [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag]. The 17-year-old phenom turned the ball over twice in the final 15 seconds against the Wildcats, but he scored 12 of Duke’s last 14 points to keep them afloat to begin with.

“I trust his instincts,” Scheyer said after the game. “I probably could have put him in a better position, to be honest, but he’s got to touch it and trust that good things are going to happen.”

The Auburn Tigers jumped Duke over the weekend thanks to their win over Houston, and the Gonzaga Bulldogs and Connecticut Huskies shuffled above the Blue Devils on Wednesday. Arizona, Duke’s next ranked opponent, sits one spot below them in sixth.

Kentucky lept up 10 spots to 20th after the stunning upset.

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer still wants the ball in Cooper Flagg’s hands at the end

Despite his two late turnovers on Tuesday night against Kentucky, Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg still has Jon Scheyer’s full confidence.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] scored 26 points against the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night, 12 more than any other member of the Duke Blue Devils, but the lasting memory from his performance came in the final 15 seconds.

Flagg turned the ball over twice on Duke’s last two possessions, letting the ball get swatted away from behind on one before losing control of his dribble and going out of bounds on the next. The ensuing Kentucky possessions created the five-point margin of defeat.

Despite the miscues, head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] didn’t sound particularly interested in reexamining his end-of-game strategy afterward.

“I trust his instincts,” Scheyer said of his star freshman. “I probably could have put him in a better position, to be honest, but he’s got to touch it and trust that good things are going to happen.”

The third-year coach also fairly pointed out that Flagg’s prior success was the only reason the Blue Devils had a chance to begin with. The forward scored 12 of Duke’s last 14 points, routinely making go-ahead or game-tying plays in the previous minutes.

“I wish you could say that every time, it’s going to work out,” Scheyer continued. “That’s not reality.”

Flagg, for his part, sounded like he appreciated the vote of confidence from his coach, regardless of the result.

“I’m glad he had that trust in me to put the ball in my hands,” Flagg said. “And I’m looking for it in that moment. It didn’t work out, but I’m still going to look for it no matter what.”

Flagg and the Blue Devils return home for a Saturday game against Wofford.

Jon Scheyer calls the Duke basketball cramp problem ‘concerning’ after Kentucky loss

For the third time in three games on Tuesday night, a Duke basketball freshman left the game with cramps in the second half.

The Duke men’s basketball team lost to the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday night, a second-half collapse that saw the Blue Devils get outscored 24-11 over the final 10 minutes.

Freshman center [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag]’s absence played a big role in the late-game swing. The 7-foot-2 star finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, but he spent a large chunk of the second half on the bench as he dealt with cramps.

With Maluach needing to leave the game, cramps become an alarming trend for the first-year Blue Devils. Star forward [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] exited the first two games against Maine and Army with the same problem, and head coach Jon Scheyer sounded well aware of the connection after the game.

“Yeah, I mean, look, it’s concerning,” Scheyer said. “I think part of it is we have young bodies…Again, we’re not trying to just dip our toes in the water, we need Cooper to play a lot. And Khaman.”

“That’s something we’ve got to take a hard look at,” he concluded.

The Blue Devils host Wofford at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, but the following two games come against Arizona on the road and Kansas at a neutral site. So the faster any potential problems get solved, the better.

Three Duke Blue Devils go within the top 10 of ESPN’s latest NBA mock draft

ESPN released a new 2025 NBA mock draft on Tuesday with a trio of Duke basketball stars within the first eight picks.

With a recruiting class as deep as the one Duke basketball coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] landed this offseason, NBA coaches and front offices will be keeping a keen eye on the Blue Devils in 2024-25.

Superstar forward [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the presumed top pick in the class, has looked the part of a franchise-changing talent even as he’s battled cramps through his first two games. The 6-foot-9 Maine native notably scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds before halftime against Army on Friday. However, two other five-star freshmen have made an impression, and according to ESPN analysts Jonathan Givony and Jeremy Woo, they remain strong lottery candidates.

Givony and Woo included a trio of Blue Devils among the top eight selections in their updated 2025 mock draft on Tuesday, and three older members of the roster made their larger rankings as second-round talents. Here’s a look at the Duke basketball stars with the highest draft stock after two games.

Cooper Flagg

Washington Wizards, No. 1 overall

Despite needing to sit for chunks of the second half against Maine and Army, Flagg has averaged 15.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game. He leads the Blue Devils in the latter three categories, and the passing prowess adds a wrinkle to his athleticism and defense. Even without leading the team in scoring, he’s somehow been as good as advertised. It’d be an upset if he wasn’t the top pick at this point.

Kon Knueppel

San Antonio Spurs, No. 6 overall

Knueppel emerged as the star of the offseason after teammates and analysts raved about his offensive playmaking and basketball IQ, and he proved them right by leading the Blue Devils in scoring against both the Black Bears and Black Knights. He’s averaged 18.5 points per game while making seven of his 14 3-point attempts, and he can catch and shoot or fire off the dribble with ease. On a team with at least four 40% 3-point threats, he’s the best shooter of all.

Khaman Maluach

New Orleans Pelicans, No. 8 overall

Maluach might not be stuffing the offensive stat sheet like Flagg and Knueppel through two games, but the 7-footer pulled down 10.0 rebounds and blocked 1.5 shots per contest in his first week with the Blue Devils. He put together his first double-double against Army, scoring 11 points to raise his scoring average to 8.5. If this draft destination comes true, he’d join former Duke basketball stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram in New Orleans.

Other Blue Devils on the prospect rankings

33. Caleb Foster (11.0 points, 3.0 assists)

35. Tyrese Proctor (12.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 50% 3PT)

51. Sion James (11.5 points, 2.5 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals)

What should Duke basketball fans know about new Kentucky coach Mark Pope

Duke faces a familiar foe on Tuesday, but John Calipari isn’t coaching Kentucky anymore. Here’s what fans should know about his replacement.

Duke basketball fans don’t need to be introduced to the Kentucky Wildcats, but some might do a double-take at the opposing bench during Tuesday’s game in Atlanta.

After more than a decade with the Wildcats, a run that included a national championship in 2012, John Calipari left Lexington for the Arkansas Razorbacks in April.

Mark Pope now stands in his place, and the new Kentucky coach won each of the first two games at his new job. Pope most recently coached the BYU Cougars for five seasons, winning at least 20 games four times and reaching the NCAA Tournament twice.

Pope coached Utah Valley from 2015-19, transforming the Wolverines from a 12-18 team in year one to a 25-10 team in his final season. He entered this year with a 187-108 record as a head coach, but he’s been 175-90 since that debut season.

According to his coaching resume on the popular analytics website KenPom, Pope’s teams rely on their offense to win games. While the Cougars never finished worse than 70th in adjusted defensive efficiency, they finished within the top 25 on the offensive side in three of his five campaigns. That half of the ball also saw a larger jump with the Wolverines, going from the 268th overall offense in 2015-16 to the 73rd overall offense in 2017-18.

Kentucky, for what it’s worth, has scored 100 points in each of its first two games this season.

If Pope’s name sounds familiar to any longtime Duke basketball fans, it should. He also played for the Wildcats from 1994-96, averaging 7.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks, and 1.0 steals en route to a national championship as a senior.

Pope and the Wildcats face off against [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] and the Blue Devils at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Staff predictions for Tuesday’s matchup between Duke and Kentucky

Duke basketball is gearing up to take on Kentucky on Tuesday, check out our Duke Wire staff predictions for the game.

The Duke Blue Devils brought championship expectations into the 2024-25 season, but head coach [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] and his team will need to prove themselves pretty quickly in November.

After back-to-back wins over Maine and Army to begin the season, the men’s basketball team will play the Kentucky Wildcats in Atlanta on Tuesday night. That rivalry battle, part of the State Farm Champions Classic, kicks off a four-game stretch that includes the Arizona Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks.

Freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] has averaged 15.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.5 steals, and 1.5 blocks to begin his collegiate career, but he’s exited the second half of both games with cramps.

“I’m not happy about it for him,” Scheyer said after Friday’s win over Army. “We’ve got to help him, and we will…We can’t have that happening. Bottom line.”

With Flagg’s second-half status and the emergence of Kon Knueppel (18.5 points per game), can the Blue Devils start stacking ranked wins before Thanksgiving?

Here are our staff predictions for Tuesday’s game.

Ryan Haley, Duke Wire site editor

If there’s one thing both of these rosters will do, it’s fire off 3-pointers. Exactly half of the Blue Devils’ attempts came from behind the arc through two games. The Wildcats aren’t far behind with 41.7% of their attempts from distance, and both teams are connecting on at least 40% of their triples.

However, in a battle of high-octane offenses, the Duke defense will win a war of attrition. Flagg and Khaman Maluach make enough plays in the interior, but the Blue Devils’ size on the perimeter can’t be understated. Every member of the backcourt being at least 6-foot-5 with excellent lateral quickness will ensure the Wildcats don’t get many free looks, and that tenacity has shown its ability to win out over 40 minutes.

Flagg notches at least four combined steals and blocks, Knueppel makes at least four 3-pointers, and the Duke basketball hype reaches another pitch.

Duke 94, Kentucky 76

Bryant Crews, Staff Writer

In earnest, Duke’s season officially begins with this game. The games against Maine and Army were nice tune-ups that counted but now rubber meets the road, literally and figuratively. Duke will leave North Carolina for the first time this basketball season to take on fellow blue blood starting a new era themselves. Mark Pope, a former Wildcat himself, is running things in Lexington after John Calipari left for Arkansas.

Kentucky isn’t as freshmen-heavy as we’ve come to expect when these teams have met over the last six years, and in some ways, it’s hard to say Duke is.

Nonetheless, Duke’s major three freshman starters will play a massive role in the tremendous jump up in competition and intensity. It’s always intriguing to see how these highly touted freshmen play when the level of play needs to rise tremendously. I have no doubt that Flagg, Kneuppel, and Maluach will be ready to rock in Atlanta.

I have Duke winning this game. Kentucky will be a problem and seeing Maluach go head-to-head with Amari Williams will be fun. I think Flagg has his early-season marquee moment much like Zion Williamson and Paolo Banchero had against this same program. Tyrese Proctor knocks down multiple 3-pointers, and Sion James records at least one block, steal, assist, and rebound apiece on top of dropping a few points to really show his worth as a glue guy extraordinaire.

Duke 81, Kentucky 72

Josiah Caswell, Staff Writer

Duke has arguably the most talented team in America, and that’s been on clear display so far in the season. Whether it’s their returning talent, transfer talent, or most notably their freshman talent, the Blue Devils have it all.

The thing is, relying on so much freshman talent can have its ups and downs. It could mean nothing, but it could also mean something if a learning bump arises given the early schedule.

Regardless, I don’t think that will matter against Kentucky. The Wildcats have a new coach, who is a good one, and an entirely new team. As a result, there’s just as much novelty for them as there is for Duke.

The Blue Devils have the better coach and the more talented team in my opinion. Duke will win.

Flagg’s recent cramping issues are worth noting, however. He’ll need to stay well-hydrated and do his best to stay on the court as much as possible.

Duke 92, Kentucky 81