Jared McCain hit three 3-pointers in a span of 1:29 in the first half to give Duke a lead it never gave up in a 76-67 win at Florida State Saturday afternoon.
Duke played without Tyrese Proctor, back home in Durham in the concussion protocol.
Time for someone to step up and McCain stepped up in a historic way. In fact, he had 25 points in just the first half, the final 3 a step-back bomb that put Duke up 44-34 at intermission.
Florida State rarely has been an easy place for Duke to win and Proctor’s absence loomed large early, as the Seminoles led for most of the first six plus minutes.
Their biggest lead was six points, at 14-8.
Jeremy Roach hit a 3-pointer and Kyle Filipowski made two foul shots, setting the stage for McCain.
First he hit a 3-pointer that tied the game at 16.
Duke got a stop and Roach found McCain for another triple.
19-16.
An empty possession for Duke, two for FSU and McCain’s next bomb made it 22-16.
“I didn’t think we came out with the right defensive mentality at first,” Jon Scheyer said “and he steadied us with his scoring. And then to close the half, he had a couple big 3s as well.”
The home team hung tough, aided by some sloppy Duke ball-handling--Duke had 17 turnovers.
Duke only led 22-20 at the mid-point of the first half and 29-26 with seven minutes left.
McCain made it 32-26 with a 3, then 35-26, then 37-28 in the lane, then that final 3-pointer, while maintaining a dialog with some FSU fans after seemingly every made shot.
“Yeah, I love playing against away crowds,” he said. “It’s always fun playing against away crowds, getting the crowd going. Whenever they’re booing you, you know you’re doing something right. It was exciting.”
McCain cooled off in the second half--you were expecting 50 points? But he still scored 10 points after intermission, including a two-foul shot, 3-point shot, five-point possession that gave Duke a 60-51 lead.
Jeremy Roach had 12 of his 17 points in the second half and the lead never dropped below four points in a chippy second half, as FSU couldn’t make several shots that could have increased game pressure on Duke.
Duke also won more than its share of 50-50 balls and ended up out-rebounding the much taller and deeper home team 36 to 27, with a 13 to 5 advantage in second-chance points.
Scheyer was quick to credit some reserves.
“I think we were just tough. We were really tough throughout. We weren’t perfect, and very rarely can you be perfect on the road. Especially here. You have to be able to turn the page quickly when you make a mistake, when they turn you over, because you’re not going to walk out of here with zero turnovers. It’s not going to happen.
“There were a couple of key plays, that’s why I mentioned Jaylen [Blakes] and Sean [Stewart], because they got loose balls for us. Our guys were all over the floor. To out-rebound them by nine and have 15 offensive rebounds, I think that’s a big step and something we need to learn from.”
Stewart had four rebounds in four minutes.
Certainly some things to clean up. Maybe Proctor’s absence accounted for some of Duke’s 17 turnovers. Neither Filipowski (8 points, 8 rebounds, 6 turnovers) nor Mark Mitchell (7 points, 4 rebounds) had their best games.
McCain’s 35 points ties the Duke freshman record set by Zion Williamson against Syracuse. His eight 3-pointers broke by one Cam Reddish’s school record for made 3-pointers by a freshman, set against Army.
“Every single game I feel like I can come out and make every shot,” McCain summed up. “It’s just the confidence I have in myself and my work ethic. When I saw the first one go in, I’m just going to keep shooting. And they happened to go in. As a shooter, your confidence stays up, even if you miss or you make, so I’m going to keep shooting. And they happened to go in today.”
Roach knows something about shooters but he didn’t attempt to hide his admiration.
“When a guy is hitting like that, he has 25 in the first half, you just let him do his thing. You don’t even ask for the ball. Probably know the shot is going in. A historic performance for a freshman. Big-time, in this arena, at Florida State is a tough environment to play in. Duke has had some trouble playing here some times, so a special night for him.”
The win puts Duke at 20-5, still tied with North Carolina in the loss column for Duke in the ACC with three losses.
The win also gives Duke 38 20-win seasons over the last 41 seasons. Two of the three exceptions were clear outliers, 1995, when Mike Krzyzewski missed much of the season with complications from back surgery and that COVID-ravaged 2021 season. The other was 1996, when Duke went 18-13.
Consistency, thy name is Duke.
Miami is next, another road game, Wednesday at 7.
A Star is Born !
McCain demonstrated his special talent today. He is a warrior. I like Scheyer pointing out contributions from Blakes and Stewart. We are going to need everyone in March / April. Roach was key down the stretch being in the right place several times. I thought Foster did an admirable job as primary ball handler in Proctor’s absence.