Duke was missing a forward at Syracuse. When Mason Gillis could return to Blue Devils’ lineup
No. 2 Duke extended its winning streak to 16 games by whipping Syracuse, 83-54, on Wednesday but did so missing a key reserve player.
Mason Gillis, a 6-6 small forward who had played in every game for the Blue Devils this season, did not make the trip due to an illness.
A transfer from Purdue who joined Duke last summer, Gillis averages 4.8 points and 2.5 rebounds for the Blue Devils (20-2, 12-0 ACC). He’s played 14.4 minutes per game and made 36.4% of his 3-pointers this season.
“Look, Mason’s as tough as it gets, as competitive as its gets,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, “so for him not to be on this trip, he’s really sick. Otherwise, he’d be here.”
Scheyer said Gillis desperately wanted to be in Syracuse with the team.
“We told him, no way,” Scheyer said.
As for Gillis’s availability for Duke’s next game, Saturday at Clemson at 6:30 p.m., Scheyer said he has “no idea” if Gillis will be well enough to travel.
“We’ll see when we get back,” Scheyer said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow. But if he’s not here, that means he’s really under the weather and not feeling well.”
Duke played without Gillis just as Scheyer finally had a full roster together for Saturday’s 87-70 win over North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium. That was the first game 6-9 junior forward Maliq Brown had played after missing four games and all but one minute of another due to a sprained knee that kept him out for three weeks.
Brown, Gillis and starting forward Sion James were Duke’s three key transfer portal additions last spring when Scheyer remade the roster in anticipation of freshman star Cooper Flagg’s arrival. A preseason all-American, Flagg is one of three freshmen who have started all 21 Duke games this season, along with 6-6 forward Kon Knueppel and 7-2 center Khaman Maluach.
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 6:00 PM.