Five dominant games. Three injuries. How Duke basketball stayed connected through it all
For the past two weeks, as February closed and March began, Duke basketball delivered one bludgeoning after another while absorbing jarring hits of its own.
Clear national championship contenders, the Blue Devils (26-3, 17-1 ACC) have hammered their past five opponents by an average margin of 33.8 points.
Along the way, top reserve Maliq Brown dislocated his shoulder. Starting guard Tyrese Proctor suffered a bone bruise to his left knee. Star freshman Cooper Flagg was hit in the face, momentarily sidelining him with blurred vision, and putting a scare into him and the college basketball world.
Mixed into that is Miami’s pursuit of Duke associate head coach Jai Lucas to make him their next head coach, the timing of which Duke coach Jon Scheyer said is “not ideal.”
How they accomplished so much, while dealing with all that, adds unexpected drama to Duke’s team with the NCAA Tournament bracket two weeks away from completion.
“I think it’s been a different way of winning,” Scheyer said Saturday night, following Duke’s 100-65 win over Florida State, “while still having the sharing in offense and the competitiveness on defense. That’s been what’s kept us going.”
A 106-70 win over Stanford on Feb. 15 marked the first of three games Duke scored 100 points or more during this five-game stretch. Saturday night’s blowout of Florida State was the third, and it occurred with Brown and Proctor not in uniform and with Flagg limited to seven minutes of first-half play after Florida State 7-foot center Alier Maluk hit him in the eye while attempting to block a shot.
While eye specialists examined Flagg, ultimately determining he had a bruise above his eye and his vision was not permanently damaged, Scheyer used lineups he’d never used in practices, let alone games.
And yet, Duke played a turnover-free half against a Seminoles defense that’s caused turnovers on 19.1% of their opponents possessions this season. That’s better than the national average (17.3%).
“It’s a byproduct of having a bunch of guys who are bought in, guys who pay attention to what we’re supposed to be doing,” Duke graduate student forward Sion James said.
Over the past five games, all resounding victories, the Blue Devils have hit 53.8% of their shots, including 44.6% of their 3-pointers. They’ve committed just six turnovers per game and averaged 98.6 points.
Defensively, Duke has limited opponents to just 64.8 points per game, seeing them shoot 38.4% from the field, including 27.6% of 3-pointers. The Blue Devils have outrebounded those five teams – Stanford, Virginia, Illinois, Miami and Florida State – by an average of 39.8 to 28.4
The five wins have come immediately after Duke suffered its lone ACC loss, a 77-71 setback at Clemson on Feb. 8.
Did that loss spur this higher level of play? Scheyer said it’s not that simple.
“It’s a response to just the evolution of the season,” Scheyer said. “You know, for us, we really focus on making sure we’re getting better each week. We’re getting better every game, and the team has embraced it, really, in all the games that you mentioned.”
Things appear set to get better, from a personnel standpoint, for the Blue Devils. Flagg returned to score 12 of his 16 points in the second half against Florida State. Proctor and Brown are expected to return at some point this month — maybe not for Monday night’s home finale with Wake Forest, but perhaps by Saturday’s regular-season finale at North Carolina.
The Lucas situation figures to come to a head this week, with Miami’s season drawing to a close Saturday since the Hurricanes won’t qualify for the ACC Tournament. The discussions over when he would start as Miami’s coach, and when he’ll complete his Duke tenure, will reach a conclusion.
In the meantime, Duke is playing the kind of basketball worthy of a national championship favorite, and doing so at the exact right time.
This story was originally published March 2, 2025 at 7:00 AM.