No. 2 Duke has plenty of areas to address after a season-opening success, so the Blue Devils will see where the improvements show up most when they face visiting Coastal Carolina on Thursday night in Durham, N.C.
With eight players logging at least 18 minutes in the first game of the season, Duke coach Jon Scheyer said there will be lots to dissect.
“I know our team will learn and grow from this,” Scheyer said. “We got to go get a second one on Thursday. You take it game by game, day by day.”
The Blue Devils had double-digit scoring runs to begin each half of the opener, but those were followed by significant offensive lulls in their 84-50 victory against visiting Army.
“We have to clean up areas on offense,” said Duke freshman Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje, who had 15 points, seven rebounds and three blocked shots in his collegiate debut.
Among areas that the Blue Devils will address is dealing with a zone defense, after there were snags when facing Army’s set-up.
“We were really stagnant,” Scheyer said. “We don’t play zone so we haven’t worked on it as much in practice. … We just need to get more organized.”
Scheyer said lapses can be valuable in the big picture as the Blue Devils look to improve throughout the season.
Coastal Carolina fell 71-70 to visiting Eastern Michigan in Monday’s opener despite Trey Perry’s 20 points. The Chanticleers were hurt by 7-for-24 shooting on 3-pointers.
“We have a plan,” Chanticleers coach Justin Gray said. “Once we get into the game, we have to be able to adjust.”
Coastal Carolina lost much of its firepower from last season’s 19-13 team.
“The motto is always the same,” Gray said. “We want to make sure we’re representing the university in the right way.”
Twelve Duke players scored against Army, led by Dame Sarr’s 16 points.
“We aren’t looking for more scoring,” Scheyer said. “We’re looking for more impact. That can show up in different ways. I think scoring will be there at the end of the day. We need to be on point in everything else.”
Duke will look for its athleticism to provide more smooth stretches because the roster gives Scheyer the opportunity to substitute liberally if he sees fit.
“There’s no question, the depth of this team is going to win us a lot of games,” Scheyer said.
Part of the depth was responsible for harassing Army into 24 turnovers.
Duke guard John Blackwell, a transfer pick-up from Wisconsin, shot 1-for-6, including 1-for-5 on threes, in the opener. He said he hadn’t had such a rough shooting performance in an opener in previous seasons, so he was back out on the court shooting shortly after the crowd departed and the interviews were finished.
Blackwell wasn’t alone in dealing with shooting struggles. The Blue Devils ended up 4-for-22 on 3-point attempts.
Duke’s 33-game homecourt winning streak is the longest active string in the country.
Gray, who’s in his third season as Coastal Carolina’s coach, has visited Duke’s Cameron Indoor Stadium in the past, including when he was a Wake Forest player competing in Atlantic Coast Conference battles with the Blue Devils.