‘He’s established himself’: Why Isaiah Evans is now so important to Duke’s NCAA title hopes
A confluence of first-half events, both good and potentially devastating, put Isaiah Evans in the spotlight on Tuesday night.
First, Duke’s energetic freshman guard hit 3-pointer after 3-pointer once again, nailing five in the first half alone as No. 2 Duke pummeled Miami, 97-60, at Watsco Center.
With 37 seconds to play in that half, though, Duke junior guard Tyrese Proctor injured his left knee while trying to stop Miami’s Devine Ugochukwu from making a layup in transition. They appeared to knock legs and Proctor’s left knee buckled, causing him to limp off the court in pain and never return.
When Duke took the court for the second half, with Proctor receiving medical attention in the locker room, Evans found himself among the starting five in Proctor’s place.
If Proctor is sidelined, Evans clearly put himself in position to stay in that lineup. And, as Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, Evans is now firmly in Duke’s rotation even if everyone is healthy.
“Look, Isaiah, he’s established himself with what he’s done,” Scheyer said Tuesday night. “It’s easy to talk about the shooting. His defense has been off the charts. He’s guarding the ball as well as anybody. He knows exactly where to be.”
That second part of the equation earned Evans the opportunity to be on the court to make more shots. He’s always been a good shooter for Duke (25-3, 16-1 ACC), as evidenced by his 47.1% 3-point shooting percentage this season. His six first-half 3-pointers in Duke’s 84-78 win over Auburn back on Dec. 4 remain one of the highlights in a sterling Blue Devils season.
But defensive improvement was needed for him to get more playing time. Scheyer is thrilled with that, which means Evans is playing more and scoring consistently. His 16 points against Miami give him 50 over Duke’s last three games, an average of 16.7 per outing. He’s made 13 of 19 3-pointers (68%), and 16 of 25 (64%) shots overall.
That came after a seven-game stretch where Evans never scored more than 10 points. He was in single digits in six of them, failing to score in four of them as he played just a few minutes here and there. Scheyer is quick to share blame for that, saying, “I could have helped them better.”
But the minutes are growing for Evans. He played a season-high 26 minutes against Miami and has played 15 minutes or more in six of Duke’s last seven games. He cites repetitive work, many times with Duke assistant coach Emanuel Dildy, for his improvement.
“Just staying consistent with my preparation each week,” Evans said. “Working with Coach Dildy. Getting the same reps over and over again. Working on my defense and just praying to hit the same shot.”
That work has Evans someone Scheyer relies upon with Duke having three regular-season games to play before the ACC Tournament.
“I’m just proud of Isaiah man for his resiliency, his belief in himself, and the way that he’s worked and he’s worked,” Scheyer said. “He’s taking coaching every step of the way.”
As Duke returns home to play its final two games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, on Saturday against Florida State and Monday against Wake Forest, Evans very well could find himself in the starting lineup for the first time this season. Proctor will receive imaging tests on his left knee injury to determine when he’ll return to play.
That situation will play itself out over the next few days. But no matter what Proctor’s situation is, Scheyer said, Evans is playing too well — everywhere on the court — to not play.
“He’s going to be in there,” Scheyer said.