Why Sean Stewart’s breakout game against NC State could mean big things for Duke basketball
No. 9 Duke faced the kind of test Monday night it wouldn’t have been prepared for two months ago.
The Blue Devils saw NC State score the first nine points at PNC Arena. Kyle Filipowski played only four minutes in the first half after picking up his second foul with 12:06 left until halftime.
When Duke coach Jon Scheyer looked ahead to this season back in October, he said his team needed Filipowski every night.
Now it’s March and the Blue Devils faced a tough road game with their 7-foot sophomore star saddled with fouls.
Enter Sean Stewart.
The 6-9 freshman wasn’t the only reason Duke not only survived, but thrived in this predicament. But he was a major reason the Blue Devils won, 79-64, in the same building where they lost 84-60 last season.
“Today it was just pretty simple,” Scheyer said. “We’re better when he’s out there and he just did a terrific job. He competed at the highest level.”
Stewart played a season-high 26 minutes, three times more than his season average of 7.8 minutes per game. He scored 12 points, with five rebounds, three blocked shots, two assists and two steals.
Duke (24-6, 14-4 ACC) survived a slow start on offense and Filipowski’s foul trouble to lead 33-30 at halftime before pulling away to the 15-point win.
The win means the Blue Devils can win at least a share of the ACC regular-season championship by defeating rival North Carolina (23-6, 15-3 ACC) in their Saturday night showdown at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke can even be the No. 1 seed for next week’s ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C., via a series of tiebreakers combined with a win over UNC or if the Tar Heels lose to Notre Dame on Tuesday night and Duke wins on Saturday.
Those possibilities would have disappeared, though, had the Blue Devils stumbled and lost to the Wolfpack on Monday night.
With Filipowski, Duke’s leading scorer and rebounder, scoring only nine points in his 22 minutes against N.C. State, a loss was certainly possible.
But Stewart, along with 6-11 graduate student center Ryan Young and 6-9 freshman forward T.J. Power, gave the Blue Devils the bridge they needed.
“To go through the first half and play the whole half without Flip and you end up having the lead,” Scheyer said, “You hope that doesn’t happen. But it did. And that was a lot of growth by our team tonight.”
Young and Stewart both grabbed five rebounds, with four of them on the offensive end. Power’s 10 minutes of play were all in the first half but he scored three points with one blocked shot, one assist and one rebound.
While Power and Young turned in important workmanlike efforts, Stewart showed the promise that even better days are ahead. He’s shown flashes of his ability at times in his first collegiate season.
But Monday night it all came together as his hard work and preparation merged with the opportunity.
“Just working hard every day in practice with the coaches,” Stewart said. “Before practice. After practice. In the morning. When my name is called, I want to be ready.”
Stewart even played 15 second-half minutes while Mark Mitchell, a 6-9 forward who has started 26 games for Duke this season, played only four. Allowing that Mitchell wasn’t having his best game, Scheyer said it was about going with the hot hand.
“Sometimes you find a group that’s getting separation, and you gotta go with that,” Scheyer said.
Duke figures to face more difficult situations as this month progresses. That’s part of the madness March brings.
But if Filipowski or Mitchell find themselves in foul trouble down the line, Scheyer can look to Stewart, thinking of what he did Monday night against N.C. State, and confidently send him into the game.
That’s quite a nugget to uncover with the postseason approaching.