A neutral site win over Michigan State sends the No. 9 Duke Blue Devils home on Friday for a clash against Bucknell at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
Duke (2-1) lost its last home game — to then-ranked No. 12 Arizona last Friday — but bounced back on Tuesday with a 74-65 win over the Spartans in Chicago as part of the Champions Classic. Four Blue Devils scored in double figures, but freshman guard Caleb Foster had his best game yet for Duke, tallying 18 points, three rebounds, an assist and a block.
It was a bounce-back effort for Foster, who didn’t score at all in 13 minutes of playing time against Arizona. For second-year Duke coach Jon Scheyer, it was more of what didn’t show up in the box score that impressed him about Foster’s performance.
“I just think it says a lot about him, as a freshman, being in this environment, in this moment,” Scheyer said. “And not just the points… His defense, his rebounding, his passing. I just thought it was a big-time response, and I can’t say enough about his attitude.”
Kyle Filipowski added 15 points and eight rebounds for Duke in the win, while Tyrese Proctor and Mark Mitchell each had 13 points. Through three games, Filipowski leads the Blue Devils in scoring and rebounding with averages of 21.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Proctor has 19 assists on the year.
“To respond that quickly in a couple of days, I just think says a lot about the character (of this team),” Scheyer said.
Duke will now aim to stack some wins as it plays three mid-major teams at home before hitting the road at Arkansas in the ACC-SEC Challenge on Nov. 29.
First up is Bucknell (1-4) which is coming off a 69-57 loss to La Salle, a team Duke will host next Tuesday.
The Bison fell to the Explorers on Tuesday despite a career-high 27 points from Jack Forrest, who shot 4-of-7 from 3-point land and also had four rebounds and two steals. Noah Williamson, a 7-footer from Latvia, added 10 points and seven boards for Bucknell – a team that finished last season with a 12-20 record.
John Griffin III, who played at Bucknell from 2004 to 2008 and was an assistant for the Bison from 2015 to 2019, became the team’s head coach over the offseason. As a player and assistant coach, Griffin was part of four Bucknell teams that played in the NCAA Tournament, including the two that upset No. 3 Kansas in 2005 and No. 8 Arkansas in 2006.
“Every year that you’re at Bucknell, the expectation is to compete for the championship,” Griffin said. “That expectation will never change. I’m not going to taper the overall expectations because of our current roster makeup. At the same time, there is a patience level required to ultimately get this group collectively moving in one direction.”
Bucknell is 0-3 all-time against Duke.
–Field Level Media