Three takeaways from No. 21 Duke basketball’s win over No. 10 Baylor in New York City
No. 21 Duke needed a big-time performance in a big-time atmosphere Wednesday night and freshman Jared McCain delivered.
The freshman guard scored 21 points, including a key 3-pointer as the Blue Devils ran off nine consecutive points late in the second half of a 78-70 win over No. 10 Baylor before a crowd of 18,512 at Madison Square Garden.
““This is a surreal moment,” McCain said. “I visualize a lot of stuff and I visualized us coming into the locker room celebrating and it happened. There’s no words to describe it.”
Playing without injured guard Tyrese Proctor and with leading scorer Kyle Filipowski in second-half foul trouble, Duke (8-3) battled back from a six-point, second-half deficit. A 9-0 run, including a McCain 3-pointer, earlier in the second half pushed Duke back in front briefly.
The game was tied 59-all when Filipowski picked up his fourth foul and went to the bench with 7:02 to play.
With the score tied at 61, Ryan Young replaced Filipowski and scored a layup off a pass from Jeremy Roach to start Duke’s 9-0 run at 5:36. The Blue Devils never trailed again.
With Baylor (9-2) in the midst of going three minutes without scoring and nearly five minutes without a field goal, Roach sank a jumper. On Duke’s next possession, Young got the ball in the lane but kicked it out to McCain who drilled a 3-pointer from the right corner giving Duke a 68-61 lead with 4:03 to play.
Young’s two free throws at 3:35 pushed Duke’s lead to 70-61 and Baylor never recovered.
“You have a guy like Ryan, who’s been in these moments before,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “He had the best sequence of the game....That’s a big time sequence. He really extended that lead and put us in a great position to win.”
Duke shot 51% in the game, including 59% in the second half. Baylor finished at 43.9%.
McCain hit 7 of 11 shots overall, including 3 of 6 on 3-pointers. The Blue Devils are now 4-0 this season when he makes three 3-pointers in a game.
Roach added 18 points as all five Duke starters reached double figures.
Duke led by as many as 10 points in the first half before taking a 34-32 lead to intermission. With Filipowski struggling to score, Baylor surged ahead, 50-44, with 12:19 to play.
But Filipowski scored eight points during a stretch where the Blue Devils turned that deficit into a 57-54 lead with 8:50 to play. The game saw three more ties from there before McCain and Young helped Duke pull away.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Proctor’s absence continues
Proctor accompanied the Blue Devils to New York but wasn’t in uniform as he continues his recovery from a sprained ankle. The 6-5 sophomore suffered the injury Dec. 2 at Georgia Tech and hasn’t played since. Wednesday night marked the third consecutive game Duke played without its starting point guard.
Proctor resumed some light on-court work last week and continues to progress toward a return. He wanted to try to play against Baylor but Scheyer shut that down.
“He hasn’t practiced,” Scheyer said. “He has done any 5-on-5. He’s working to get back. We just collectively made the decision it’s not gonna happen.”
That said, when Duke plays next plays, Dec. 30 against nonconference foe Queens at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Proctor could be in uniform.
“I feel optimistic when we get back for our next game,” Scheyer said. “He has to keep putting things together but he’s progressing.”
The Blue Devils resume ACC play Jan. 2 against Syracuse and will play nothing but league foes the rest of the regular season.
McCain and Caleb Foster joined Roach as the starting three-man backcourt once again. Duke received strong play from the group as all three reached double-figures..
Scheyer goes with short bench
Scheyer tightened up his playing rotation, using just three players off the bench in Young, junior guard Jaylen Blakes and freshman forward TJ Power. Only Blakes played at least 10 minutes, although Young played those valuable minutes in the second half when Duke surged in front with Filipowski was on the bench with four fouls.
NET importance
The game carried more importance than a usual December matchup for the Blue Devils, who entered Wednesday night 1-1 in Quadrant 1 results, according to the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET). Duke’s 74-65 win over Michigan State on Nov. 14 in Chicago accounted for the Blue Devils’ only high-quality win prior to Baylor.
Baylor entered the game at No. 16 in the NET, while Duke was No. 25, making it a Quad 1 result for either team at this point. The Bears also entered the game 1-1 in Quad 1 results.
But Baylor, playing the Big 12, figures to have far more opportunities for such results. Prior to Wednesdays’ games, that league had four the nation’s top 10 teams in the NET — No. 1 Houston, No. 3 BYU, No. 6 Iowa State and No. 7 Oklahoma.
Meanwhile, the ACC’s top team was No. 14 Clemson followed by Duke (25) and Virginia (32).
This story was originally published December 20, 2023 at 9:18 PM.