5 observations from no. 3 Duke men’s basketball first half against Miami

On By Littum

No. 3 Duke men’s basketball concludes its three-game homestand with a conference matchup against Miami. After 20 minutes of play, the Blue Devils have stormed out to a 50-26 lead:

Category 1 sticks

Miami’s star point guard, graduate student Nijel Pack, has been out of commission since Dec. 10 and does not appear to be returning to the court anytime soon. As of Saturday, Divine Ugochukwu is also on the bench thanks to a hip injury suffered during the Hurricanes’ 10-point loss to Wake Forest. These injuries only further hamper a team already struggling to find strength on the court, especially against ACC opponents. A five-game losing streak, punctuated by the loss of Ugochukwu, can’t do much for morale as Miami battles the No. 3 team in the nation.

The Arc de Triomphe

The Blue Devils shot rainbows for 20 minutes. After they hit five threes in the first seven minutes of the half on 5-for-8 shooting, Cameron Indoor Stadium already felt exciting. When it went 8-for-12, the 3-point line seemed just barely enchanted. Duke’s prowess in the center did not come from one or a few lucky arms – Kon Knueppel, Sion James, Isaiah Evans and Mason Gillis all fired successful shots from deep to account for the majority of the home team’s points total by the end of the period. James, Cooper Flagg and Tyrese Proctor excelled at finding opportunities in the center for their teammates and kept the tempo of the game high as the Blue Devils took care of business with shocking efficiency. They had shot 11-for-17 from three as the period came to an end.

No Brown, no problem

Maliq Brown spent the half, as he will spend the next, in a black Brotherhood tracksuit instead of his normally worn uniform. After his injury last game, the junior forward will take to the sidelines until his knee sprain fully heals. But his absence has yet to hurt Duke — in fact, while Brown is taking a break, Patrick Ngongba II is flexing his own defensive muscles after missing part of the season due to his own injury early on. Considering the Blue Devils have held their visitors to almost exactly half of their own 50 points, their defense has played fine even with its significant hole in the benched Brown.

Guarding Kidd

Lynn Kidd holds the reigning crown for one of the more unique statistical categories in the ACC. The Gainesville, Fla., native’s points per game improved on 8.2 last season at Virginia Tech – the highest mark in the conference. This season, the graduate center has shot inconsistently; he started the season with a 24-point performance, but most recently scored just seven. Still, his ceiling is reaching, and Kidd can be a difference maker for Miami when he plays his best game. He opened the game with a six-point, 3-for-3 field goal before taking a trip to the bench. After interim head coach Bill Courtney called his second timeout of the game, Kidd marched back to Coach K Court to announce his presence with a decisive dunk on Duke’s net. Without Maliq Brown in blue and white, containing Miami’s top threat may be the hardest thing Duke has to do during this game.

Player of the half: Kon Knueppel

Despite a crowd of Hurricanes trying to hold him down, Knueppel made a field goal from just under the basket for his fifth of the half. When it looked like he was going to miss another 3-point attempt, Maluach’s dunk proved the freshman was indeed coming off another assist. The Milwaukee native opened the scoring for the Blue Devils with an aggressive layup and didn’t slow down from there on out. Knueppel opened himself up to his teammates as often as he passed the ball to them, making him a threat not just from a scoring perspective, but also with how quickly he moved the ball around the court. He finished with 18 points and four 3-pointers in the half.

Sophie Levenson's profile
Sophie Levenson
| Sports managing editor

Sophie Levenson is a Trinity junior and sports editor at The Chronicle’s 120th volume.