Almost 42 years ago Mike Krzyzewski began his Duke tenure with wins over Stetson (at home) and South Florida (on the road). Jon Scheyer began his Duke career with a win over another Florida team.
Yes, he’s officially in the record books. Those games he coached in Mike Krzyzewski’s absence went on Krzyzewski’s record.
But not this one.
And yes, he got an ice bath after the game, which he said shocked him.
Jacksonville won 21 games last season and they have a veteran team, starting a grad student, two redshirt seniors and a redshirt junior.
It wasn’t the kind of game that really lends itself to a blow-by-blow. But the Dolphins hung tough for much of the first half and made Duke work for everything they got.
Scheyer has said from day one that he wanted to hang this team’s hat on defense and holding a 21-win team to 44 points suggests his message is getting through. Jacksonville’s best player is 6-2 guard Kevion Nolan, a preseason first-team All-Atlantic Sun player and stopping him was a priority.
“We just came out and tried to execute our defensive game plan,” freshman forward Mark Mitchell said. “They have a really good player in Nolan and we did what we could to take him out of the game. We knew he was a really good player and if we could get the ball out of his hands, it would make things tough for him and they would have a really tough night.”
Nolan ended with 5 points hitting 1 of 9 from the field.
“Kevion Nolan is a really good player,” Scheyer added. “That was a big key for us tonight, keying in on him and making life difficult.”
Mitchell continued his sterling play, with 18 points, 2 assists, a block and a steal. He even knocked down 2 of 5 from beyond the arc.
Mitchell started Duke’s scoring with a monster dunk off a Tyrese Proctor lob, tying the game at 2-2. The visitors had their last lead at 6-5 before Jeremy Roach scored on a floater and a 3-pointer. Jaylen Blakes came off the bench and hit a couple of bombs and Duke was up 23-13.
Jacksonville had one final run in them. They even had a chance to tie at 25 but Nolan missed a 3.
They made that run in part because Roach picked up two quick fouls and took a seat. But Scheyer trusted Roach and he came back in and played the final seven minutes of the first half without picking up his third foul. Roach put Duke’s lead back into double digits at 36-26 with a layup, than Kyle Filipowski hit a 3, then Roach finished the scoring with another 3 and Duke was up 42-26 at the half.
Duke’s defense kept Jacksonville from making any kind of run in the second half. Duke went almost three minutes without scoring out of the locker room but allowed only two points. Duke started using its height inside and pulled away.
Duke again played without freshmen Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively II. Scheyer indicated that there was a good chance Lively will see action Friday against USC Upstate.
I’ve already mentioned Mitchell. The rest of the freshmen had a mixed outing. Proctor and Jaden Schutt combined for 11 misses in 11 attempts from the field; Proctor did knock down two foul shots.
Seven-footer Filipowski started slowly but gained his footing and dominated inside after that slow start. Jacksonville was 12th in the NCAA in rebounding differential last season and their three post players are 6-10, 240-pound Omar Payne, 6-9, 230-pound Osayi Osifo and 6-11 240-pound Mike Marsh. But led by Filipowski's 12 rebounds, Duke owned the boards 44 to 25.
“Of course, there were some nerves at the beginning of the game,” he acknowledged. “I started picking up a little bit, getting that energy going and just trying to be a beast on both ends of the floor, being active, being part of the game. That’s the one thing everyone has been prioritizing, is defense and we have no doubt we can be one of the best defenses in the country with how versatile we are, how we can switch. We’re just growing on that every day.”
The rebounds? “All the coaches gave me the sense that if I don’t rebound, I’m coming out of the game. So, I had get double figures in rebounds if I was going to see my feet on the floor.”
Scheyer said Filipowski made an “adjustment. For our young guys, they’re used to having the ball in their hands all the time, used to valuing scoring as a way to make an impact. For us, we emphasized defend and rebound. I thought he was a great example of that. He just stuck with it.”
Roach (16), Ryan Young (12) and Filipowski (10) joined Mitchell in double figure scoring, with Young adding 7 rebounds and 3 steals, Roach 6 rebounds and 4 assists. Jake Grandison had 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Duke assisted on 19 of its made 27 field goals, while holding Jacksonville to 34 percent shooting from the field.
Not a perfect start by any means. But on paper Jacksonville is the kind of veteran mid-major that could easily have kept Duke’s margin to something in the 15-point range. So, a 27-point win is more than solid and certainly something to build on.
“We have a lot of work to do,” Scheyer said. “But I think it starts with their attitudes from day one. Nobody has been above anything. They get along, they push each other and it starts with that for me.”
Thanks, Jim. The game was fun and promising. Players who will be key, that is, all of the top six in the rotation, minus Lively and Whitehead, showed that they belonged. They played tough D and collaborated on O. None played scared or hesitant. I was pleasantly surprised by tough team D and the cohesiveness and fluidity of the O, so early in the season.
Several individual standouts were no surprise but were reassuring. Jeremy is a true gift at PG. Proctor plays tough D and will make his shots. Filipowski will continue to improve -- including switching to his non-dominate hand on a contested layup. Ryan Young brings experience, toughness, and practiced footwork -- honed in the Big Ten -- that will be crucial.
And then there is Mike Mitchell. Wow. I hope that we can keep him for at least two years. He is the complete, albeit young, package. He reminds me of James Worthy.
This will be a really fun season! Go Duke!
Tommy, thanks for your Like. I'm pumped! But what were your take-aways from the game? thanks.