It was just over seven months ago when Duke Blue Devils guard Grayson Allen burst on the scene in the national title game, giving Duke a much needed lift as they went on their way to win their fifth title.
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In No. 5 Duke’s season-opening 92-74 win against Siena, the Blue Devil freshmen started tentative and never really rounded into form. The sophomore did most of his damage in the first half as he scored 20 of his 26 points before the intermission. He makes plays, though – stealing the ball away from a Siena player after a missed Jefferson free throw for an immediate dunk – and finished with 15 points in his college debut. The Blue Devil defense managed to control James Madison forward Ashley Herndon-who entered Friday’s contest with 14 goals-efficiently as the Dukes’ top scorer only put one shot on frame.
The Blue Devils lost a lot of talent from that team, though, including the likes of Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones. Brandon Ingram led the way for Duke’s freshmen with 15 points, but the newcomers combined to shoot 10-of- 35 from the field (29 percent) while the rest of the Blue Devils roster shot 20-of-31.
Allen finished with 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Allen, specifically, showed that on two instances.
Duke is counting on Grayson Allen to pick up where he left off in April.
“First game of the season, young team – I think we did pretty good”, Allen said.
“We wanted to drive the ball, ” Krzyzewski said, “and Grayson was spectacular driving”. Many different media outlets have released their preseason predictions for the year, and despite the Blue Devils being the reigning NCAA Men’s Basketball champions, adding the most talented freshman class, and having the best coach in the NCAA, virtually no analysts or experts are picking Duke to repeat as national champions.
“I thought they were a little nervous tonight”, Krzyzewski said afterward. “It’s about making sure (they’re) mature enough to know that”. “That’s the difference between our freshmen last year and this year”.
But with Allen and Jefferson, along with fellow holdovers Matt Jones and Marshall Plumlee taking the reins and leading as they did against Siena on Friday, those freshmen won’t have to worry about the pressure of growing up too soon.
The defeats in Duke’s losing streak came on both ends of the spectrum: Before the blowout loss to UNC came a 30-27 setback against Miami when the Hurricanes lateraled the final kickoff eight times before returning it for the winning touchdown that the ACC later said shouldn’t have counted due to multiple officiating errors. The Siena Saints will stay on the road and face the #17 Wisconsin Badgers on Sunday night at 8:00 PM EST.
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Duke hosts Bryant on Saturday night.
