Tag: wofford terriers

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.

The best Duke basketball photos from Saturday’s big win over Wofford

Check out the best photos from Duke’s record-setting win over the Wofford Terriers on Saturday.

The Duke Blue Devils did all they could to wipe away their first loss from their memories, holding Wofford to a program-record 35 points in a turbulence-free victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday.

Nine different Duke basketball players scored in the first 20 minutes, and eight different Blue Devils added at least one assist during the 51-14 opening half. Superstar freshman [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] only scored eight points, but he grabbed nine rebounds on top of six assists, three steals, and two blocks for another well-rounded box score.

The biggest boost came from behind the arc. After finishing a paltry 4/24 (16.7%) from 3-point range against the Kentucky Wildcats, Duke converted 16 of its 38 attempts from distance on Saturday to bounce back toward its early form.

National pundits will brush away the 51-point victory because of the opponent, but any confidence gained this weekend will be essential for an upcoming road trip that includes the Arizona Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks. Here are the best photos from Saturday’s win.

How many points did Duke basketball star Cooper Flagg score against Wofford?

Here’s how Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg performed against the Wofford Terriers on Saturday.

On Tuesday, [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] looked like the only Blue Devil who could score against the Kentucky Wildcats. Flagg put 12 of the Blue Devils’ last 14 points on the board, finishing with a game-high 26 in the 77-72 loss.

Back at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the exact opposite seemed to be true. Duke benefitted from a poor shooting performance from Wofford, but the Blue Devils still built a 51-14 lead at the midway point after holding their opponents to six baskets on 30 attempts.

Wofford’s 35 points are the fewest Duke has allowed in a single game since the invention of the shot clock, and the offense got back on track from distance as well. After making four of their 24 3-point shots against the Wildcats, the Blue Devils made 16 of their 38 triples (42.1%) on their home court. But how much of that production came from their freshman superstar?

Here’s a breakdown of the top-ranked freshman’s performance against the Terriers.

Cooper Flagg points scored vs. Wofford:

Flagg only finished with eight points against the Terriers, making three of his eight shots from the floor and one of his five 3-point looks. However, the 17-year-old tacked on nine rebounds, six assists, three steals, and two blocks in just 28 minutes.

Did Duke win?

The Blue Devils won 86-35 thanks to their dominant first half.

Cooper Flagg’s next game:

The Duke Blue Devils will return to the court on Friday with a road game against the Arizona Wildcats, the first of two straight ranked games out west.

Duke basketball broke a program record with their defensive performance against Wofford

Duke basketball held the Wofford Terriers to just 35 points on Saturday, setting a new program record in the progress.

The Duke Blue Devils wasted no time erasing their first loss from the ledger with an 86-35 victory over Wofford on Saturday, setting a new school record in the process.

The Terriers’ 35 points were the fewest the Blue Devils have allowed in a game during the shot clock era. Some luck broke Duke’s way early on with Wofford missing several open 3-point looks, but the Terriers still shot just 14/57 (24.6%) from the floor and 5/33 (15.2%) from 3-point range.

There might be some karmic justice in that second stat after the Blue Devils went 4/24 from three against the Kentucky Wildcats on Tuesday. Duke made at least 38% of its 3-point looks in each of its three other games, including a 16/38 (42.1%) performance on Saturday.

Wofford only managed 14 points before the half, tied for the second-fewest by a Duke opponent in the shot clock era. The Blue Devils held Eastern Michigan to 13 points in the first 20 minutes back in November 2018.

Duke put together three blocks and 11 steals as a team, and 17-year-old phenom [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] rejected two shots and snagged three steals by himself. Sophomore guard Caleb Foster and Tulane transfer Sion James also finished with multiple takeaways, two of the seven Blue Devils with at least one for the game.

Duke basketball dominates Wofford in best first-half performance under Jon Scheyer

The Duke Blue Devils bounced back with a Saturday win over Wofford behind a scoring avalanche during the opening half.

The Duke Blue Devils knew they wouldn’t erase any lingering questions from Tuesday’s loss to the Kentucky Wildcats with one game, but they sure tried with an 86-35 home victory over the Wofford Terriers.

After missing their first four shots of the afternoon, the Blue Devils caught fire and wouldn’t cool down until the midway point. Days after Duke made just four of their 24 3-point attempts as a team in Atlanta, Tyrese Proctor and Kon Knueppel made back-to-back triples to take the lead in the third minute.

Proctor, the only player who spent each of the past two seasons with head coach Jon Scheyer, roared out of the gates again. After he put together 10 points with two threes in the first 20 minutes against the Wildcats, he tallied nine of the Blue Devils’ first 14 points with an assist on top. He ended the opening frame with 12 points, nearly equaling the Terriers by himself, with two dimes.

After 17-year-old phenom [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] was the only Duke player to make a shot from the floor over the final 10 minutes against Kentucky, Scheyer and the Blue Devils took a different approach on Saturday. From the 15:01 to 5:28 marks in the first half, Duke outscored Wofford 27-2 thanks to eight different players getting to the basket.

Khaman Maluach, the freshman 7-footer, scored seven points in four minutes emphasized by an alley-oop dunk. Fellow first-year center Patrick Ngongba, making his collegiate debut, notched his first career points and won several rebounding battles. Isaiah Evans, yet another member of the 2024 recruiting class, tallied eight points and an assist in his first four minutes on the court thanks to a pair of 3-pointers.

Eleven different players took the court in the first half on Saturday. Nine of them scored at least two points, and eight of them recorded an assist. Despite Flagg only notching five points on five shots, the Blue Devils created a 51-14 advantage after 20 minutes for the largest halftime lead in Scheyer’s three years as head coach.

The Cameron Crazies could pick their favorite stat to detail Saturday’s dominance. Duke finished with 43 rebounds to Wofford’s 29. The Blue Devils recovered with a 16/38 (42.1%) performance from 3-point range. However blowouts can be quantified, Scheyer and his players checked the box. Flagg finished with just eight points, but he stuffed the stat sheet elsewhere with nine rebounds, six assists, two blocks, and three steals for his contribution.

The confidence from Saturday’s win will prove necessary in the coming 10 days. The Blue Devils get nearly a full week off before Saturday’s trip to Arizona for a battle with the Wildcats, and Duke plays top-ranked Kansas in Las Vegas just four days later.

LSU baseball lands star Wofford pitcher transfer Zac Cowan

The Tigers added a big-time portal arm on Tuesday.

In less than an hour, the LSU baseball team landed two starting pitchers from regional foe Wofford.

The latest was [autotag]Zac Cowan[/autotag], a sophomore right-hander from Blythewood, South Carolina. After seeing 15 appearances with one start as a true freshman, turning in an ERA over six, he improved markedly in his sophomore season.

He made 17 starts, earning a 10-2 record while cutting his ERA down to 3.35. He struck out 124 batters in 24 while walking just 29, earning All-SoCon honors in the process.

Previous reports also indicated that fellow Wofford pitcher Camden Wicker would be joining Cowan in Baton Rouge, but The Advocate’s Koki Alexander reported that Wicker has not committed to the Tigers.

With LSU potentially set to lose its top two weekend starters in [autotag]Gage Jump[/autotag] and [autotag]Luke Holman[/autotag], adding pitching help was a major need this offseason. LSU has done just that, adding three portal arms so far. Cowan is the most accomplished of the bunch and likely projects as a weekend starter in 2025.

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Griffin Herring hurls a gem against Wofford to keep LSU baseball’s season alive

After a rough start, LSU came back to win 12-6 and advances to the regional final against North Carolina.

LSU entered Sunday’s game facing elimination in Chapel Hill. The Tigers got a rematch against the Wofford Terriers who they beat in their first game of the regional. After a rough start, LSU came back to win 12-6.

[autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] got the start on the mound but things did not get off to the type of start he would like. Wofford greeted him with five runs in the bottom of the first inning to get out to a 5-0 lead. In the top of the second inning, the Tigers began to claw their way back into the game. [autotag]Michael Braswell III[/autotag] hit a sacrifice fly and [autotag]Jake Brown[/autotag] had an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2.

In the top of the fourth inning, [autotag]Ashton Larson[/autotag] hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-3.

The Terriers answered with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth to extend their lead to 6-3. In the top of the fifth inning, LSU tied the ballgame as [autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hit a two-run homer and [autotag]Brady Neal[/autotag] hit an RBI single to tie the game 6-6.

In the top of the seventh inning, LSU took their first lead of the ballgame when Brown hit a sacrifice fly and [autotag]Alex Milazzo[/autotag] hit an RBI single to give LSU an 8-6 lead.

In the top of the eighth inning, the Tigers extended their lead as Pearson hit an RBI double and Neal hit a two-RBI single to extend the lead to 11-6.

[autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag] was the pitcher Jay Johnson called on to relieve Ackenhausen after his nightmare first inning. Herring was phenomenal. He finished the game after pitching 6.1 innings, giving up one run on five hits, seven strikeouts, and zero walks. [autotag]Kade Anderson[/autotag] entered the game to relieve him in the bottom of the eighth inning.

In the top of the ninth inning, [autotag]Jared Jones[/autotag] hit an RBI single and Pearson hit a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 13-6.

LSU advances to take on North Carolina in another elimination game on Sunday night at 5 p.m. CT.

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Watch LSU baseball’s Josh Pearson hit a 2-run HR to cut Wofford’s lead to a run

Josh Pearson doesn’t want the Tigers to go home.

[autotag]Josh Pearson[/autotag] hasn’t exactly been known for his power this season at LSU, but he found it when the team needed it the most.

Facing Wofford in an elimination game on Sunday, the Tigers fell behind 5-0 early and were trailing 6-3 in the top of the fifth when Pearson stepped to the plate with a runner on first and two outs.

He unloaded on a pitch, hitting his seventh home run of the season to score a pair of runs and cut the Terriers’ lead to just one run. A victory would put LSU in the regional final, where it would face North Carolina once again.

The Tigers also trailed in the first meeting between these two teams to open the regional but came back thanks to some timely home-run hitting. LSU will hope that will be the case once again as it looks to keep its season alive.

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Jay Johnson says LSU pitcher Nate Ackenhausen was ‘ambushed’ in 1st inning by Wofford

Nate Ackenhausen couldn’t finish the bottom of the first as LSU fell behind 5-0 early in Sunday’s elimination game.

LSU baseball faces elimination on Sunday in a rematch against the Wofford Terriers, and the game got off to a nightmarish start.

[autotag]Nate Ackenhausen[/autotag] took the mound to begin the game, but his outing wouldn’t last long. He stayed for just 0.2 innings, allowing three hits and five runs (four earned) and was pulled from the game before the end of the bottom of the first in favor of [autotag]Griffin Herring[/autotag].

Speaking on the ESPN broadcast after LSU fell in an early hole, coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said Ackenhausen was “ambushed,” per On3.

“We can’t get two and three until you get one,” [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said. “So, that’s why our best pitcher is on the mound right now. Wofford did a nice job in the first inning. They ambushed Nate. Now, we just need to stay poised and try to scratch a couple together and get back in the game.”

The Tigers are looking to fight back and avoid elimination to clinch a spot in the regional final against North Carolina, who they lost to Saturday night.

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Jay Johnson breaks down LSU baseball’s ability to fight back in games

“That’s just who we are now,” Jay Johnson said after Friday’s comeback win over Wofford.

Just like it did several times in last week’s SEC Tournament, the LSU baseball team found itself playing from behind late in Friday’s Chapel Hill Regional opener against Wofford.

The Tigers trailed 2-0 late into the game but ultimately battled back with some timely home-run hitting, emphatically capped off with a walk-off solo shot from [autotag]Steven Milam[/autotag] to break a 3-3 gridlock in the bottom of the ninth as LSU won 4-3.

Now, as they prepare to face North Carolina in the winners’ bracket, coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] said his team is learning to roll with the punches during games.

“First off, I want to give credit to Little, he pitched exceptionally well (for Wofford). That was the story for the beginning of the game.” Johnson said, per On3. “A lot of guys are going through a lot of firsts and this is their first NCAA Tournament game and they want to do well, but we have to work through some of that. (Gage) set a good tone in the top of the first inning, then we didn’t help him in the bottom of the first inning and that’s part of the complimentary baseball — we have to play better.

“Relative to the toughness aspect, that’s just who we are now. We got cut. We got blistered. We got punched in the gut 50 times in the first five weeks of SEC play, but we got out of the hospital and this is who we are now.”

Johnson will hope his team can take more control early in games, especially as it draws a matchup against the No. 4 national seed. But LSU is learning how to battle back and stay in games, and that’s an important attribute if this team wants to return to Omaha.

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