Three takeaways from No. 22 Duke basketball’s win over Charlotte on Saturday
Having one starter not in uniform and seeing another hobble to the bench in the second half didn’t keep No. 22 Duke from ending a two-game losing streak on Saturday.
Behind Jared McCain’s 21 points and 18 from Jeremy Roach, the Blue Devils toppled Charlotte, 80-56, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Coming off consecutive road losses to Arkansas, 80-75, and Georgia Tech, 72-68, the Blue Devils (6-3) played without sophomore point guard Tyrese Proctor (sprained ankle). Preseason All-American Kyle Filipowski went to the bench, and briefly to the locker room, during the second half after spraining his ankle.
Filipowski’s injury coincided with an 11-0 Charlotte run in the second half as the 49ers trimmed what had been a 25-point Blue Devils lead in the first half, to as few as 11 points at 57-46 with 13:37 to play.
He returned as Duke pulled away to a one-sided win over the 49ers (5-4).
Filipowski scored only five points, on 2-of-10 shooting, but led Duke with 13 rebounds and four assists.
“I’m not really upset about not scoring the ball that much. I think I did a good job facilitating for some of my other teammates, as well,” Filipowski said. “Seeing some of these other guys step up; it’s good especially for the freshmen to just have that confidence keep growing in them, showing what they’re capable of. We’re gonna need that down the road if we want to go to the Final Four.”
Proctor’s absence
After playing in all 36 games as a freshman last season and starting every game this season, Proctor missed his first career game for Duke on Saturday.
Proctor injured his ankle early in Duke’s loss at Georgia Tech on Dec. 2. He’s been diagnosed with a sprained ankle and he used crutches to maneuver himself to the bench on Saturday.
With Proctor out, Duke started two freshmen, McCain and Caleb Foster, at guards along with Roach, a senior captain. Filipowski and Mark Mitchell manned the frontcourt positions.
Proctor averages 10.3 points and 4.5 assists per game this season.
Junior guard Jaylen Blakes absorbed some of Proctor’s minutes in the backcourt and did so effectively. Blakes played 21 minutes, scoring a season-high 15 points while hitting all five of his shots overall. That included a three 3-pointers.
“He works his (expletive) off,” McCain said. “He plays as hard as you can every single game on defensive end, and he’s able to show the offensive end tonight. I’m just proud of him.”
Duke has not shared a timetable for Proctor’s return. Scheyer said it’s “probably unlikely” for him to return for Tuesday’s game with Hofstra. He wants to get Proctor as close to 100% as possible.
“He sprained it pretty good,” Scheyer said. “You never know with a sprained ankle, how long it’s going to take. I do know he’s attacking his rehab every day. He’s trying to get out there as quickly as possible.”
Sharing is caring
But even without Proctor, the Blue Devils did a much better job offensively as they built a 45-27 halftime lead over Charlotte.
After the losses at Arkansas and Georgia Tech, Scheyer lamented his team’s lack of ball movement in its half-court offense.
A week of hard practices led to improvement, particularly in the first half as Duke collected 10 assists on its first 13 field goals.
A week earlier at Atlanta, Scheyer said he’d like to see the Blue Devils finish in the neighborhood of 20 assists per game.
Duke collected 15 assists against Charlotte as it shot 50% overall. The Blue Devils made 10 of 18 3-pointers (55.6%). Duke had hit only 35.4% of its 3-pointers this season.
“I wanted to get us moving better, passing it better,” Scheyer said. “I’m not surprised at all with the shooting numbers because of it.”
When asked about what worked, McCain credits his big game to the improved ball movement and confidence.
“I didn’t have to force any shots – it felt all natural to me – and trusting my work,” McCain said. “I’ve put in the hours. It’s gonna drop at one point. It’s a sigh of relief to get the Duke fans off of me who were being a little mean.”
Better perimeter defense
After Arkansas and Georgia Tech used effective 3-point shooting to beat the Blue Devils, Duke made things more difficult on the 49ers and it helped.
Charlotte made only 4 of 20 3-pointers (20%) as Duke lead the entire game. This after Arkansas (nine) and Georgia Tech (seven) combined to make 16 of 45 (35.5%) against the Blue Devils.
The 49ers shot 40.4% overall.
“I thought our defense was really consistent, with just five guys moving together,” Scheyer said. “We’re learning about who we have to be and how our defense needs to be played as the year’s gone along, but it was the best collective effort and collective movement that we’ve had on both ends.”
This story was originally published December 9, 2023 at 4:34 PM with the headline "Three takeaways from No. 22 Duke basketball’s win over Charlotte on Saturday."