DURHAM – Freshman Jared McCain scored 17 first-half points en route to a career-high 24 as No. 16 Duke defeated Queens, 106-69, on Saturday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium. In total, 10 different Blue Devils scored, including additional double-digit scorers in Kyle Filipowski, Caleb Foster and Mark Mitchell, who scored 19, 13 and 10, respectively.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Jeremy Roach got Duke on the board with an early layup and was joined in the box score by Kyle Filipowski on the Blue Devils’ next possession. Back-to-back three-pointers by Jared McCain and Caleb Foster pushed Duke ahead by 10 points, 14-4, and forced an early timeout by the visitors.
- McCain was the first player to reach double-digit scoring, knocking down a pull-up jumper with just under 14 minutes left in the first half, pushing Duke’s lead to 15, 21-6.
- Tyrese Proctor entered the game at the 12:48 mark, making his first appearance since suffering an ankle injury on Dec. 2. The sophomore guard scored his first points shortly after with a layup with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.
- A three-pointer by Queens narrowed Duke’s lead to 12, 34-22, but a quick five-point burst by the Blue Devils made it a 39-22 game at the final media timeout of the first half.
- Duke took a 46-33 lead into the break, led by McCain’s 17 first-half points.
- A back-and-forth first five minutes of the second half saw Duke build its lead slightly, 59-43. McCain’s fourth three-pointer of the afternoon gave the freshman a new career-high 22 points and made it a 62-44 game. Proctor drilled a three-pointer to make it eight straight points by the Blue Devils and triggered a Queens timeout with 13:38 on the clock.
- The Blue Devils went on a streak of making 7-of-10 shots, capped by back-to-back three-pointers by TJ Power and Filipowski, giving the hosts an 81-50 edge with 9:36 left to play.
- An 8-3 scoring run, punctuated by a dunk by Caleb Foster, pushed Duke into triple-digits and the Blue Devils’ advantage to 38, 101-63, before closing out the 106-69 victory.
NOTES
- Duke’s 60 second-half points are the most in any half this season by the Blue Devils, and the most for the program since posting 60 points in the first half versus South Carolina State on Dec. 14, 2021.
- The final total of 106 points was the most scored by a Duke team since it scored 107 versus The Citadel on Nov. 22, 2021.
- Duke’s defense held Queens to 69 points, 11.7 below its season average of 80.7 points. The Blue Devils have now held each of their 12 opponents below their respective scoring average.
- Duke distributed a season-best 24 assists, including 17 helpers in the second half. Ten Blue Devils registered an assist, topped by Jeremy Roach and Tyrese Proctor with four apiece.
- The Blue Devils registered 11 blocks, including seven in the first half, marking a new season-high for rejections.
- The Blue Devils’ defense also tallied 11 steals, a new season-high, and forced 19 turnovers – the most by a Duke opponent so far this season, equating to a season-best 33 points-off-turnovers.
- As a team, Duke went 40-of-69 (.580) from the field – the first time a Duke squad has made 40 shots in a game since Jan. 4, 2020, when the Blue Devils defeated Miami, 95-62.
- Freshman Jared McCain scored 17 first-half points en route to a career-high 24 total points on 9-of-14 (.643) shooting. Saturday marked his fourth straight game in double-figures and the third time in his last four outings with more than 20 points.
- The 17 points in the opening 20 minutes by McCain tied Kyle Filipowski’s efforts versus Hofstra for the most first-half points by a Blue Devil so far this season.
- McCain finished 4-of-9 from deep, marking the fourth consecutive contest the freshman has made at least three 3-pointers. The Blue Devils are now 5-0 when he reaches that threshold.
- Kyle Filipowski finished with 19 points on 8-of-10 (.800) shooting, blocked a career-high five shots and grabbed four rebounds.
- Caleb Foster scored 10 in the second half and finished with 13 total points, adding three assists and three rebounds.
- Mark Mitchell capped off Duke’s double-digit scoring with his 10 points and finished two rebounds shy of his first career double-double, reeling in eight boards.
- Ryan Young matched a season-high with eight points on 2-of-3 shooting from the field and a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe.
- Tyrese Proctor made his return to the hardwood for the first time since suffering an injury in the opening minutes of the Georgia Tech game, entering Saturday’s contest at 12:47 of the first half. The sophomore guard finished the afternoon with nine points and four assists in 18 minutes played.
QUOTES
- “I thought it was a good game for us, coming back from Christmas break. We wanted to really carry the momentum that we had before the break. Obviously, there’s always a lot of things you want to work on, but for us today I thought we came out with a strong start. I thought the starting group was aggressive and did a good job, and then throughout the half we were working through some rust, a little bit and some shape up, but give them credit. We knew coming in with Queens, they’re not afraid. They can shoot and make a lot of threes. They’re going to continue to play hard no matter what the score was. I love the way we shared the ball. We only had seven assists in the first half, 17 in the second half. I thought our activity on defense picked up as the game went along. I think that the steals reflect that, some of the blocked shots.” – head coach Jon Scheyer
- “I’ve been really big on control what I can control, really coming out and focusing on defense and letting the game come to me. I know I can make these shots, but when I focus on that, you can get caught up in college basketball stuff and all the hype. So [I’m] just trying to play winning basketball and focus on my defense.” – freshman Jared McCain
- “I felt good. It was really good to get back out there and just get comfortable again. Obviously, I missed a bit of time, but it was good, not rushed, and I felt good out there. It’s all been looked at and it’s going to be painful for a little bit, but I’m just going to have to push through that. We didn’t look at any game that we’d try to get back [and able to play]. We just mainly focused on getting back to as close to 100% as I can.” – sophomore Tyrese Proctor
UP NEXT
- No. 16 Duke (9-3) returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday, Jan. 2, as the Blue Devils host Syracuse (10-3) for Duke’s ACC home-opener. The action airs on ESPN at 9 p.m.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils men’s basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “DukeMBB”.
