DURHAM – Duke basketball fans took their first look at the 2022-23 squad during the Blue Devils' 13th annual Countdown to Craziness event Friday evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The highly-anticipated night kicked off with student group and dunk team performances prior to introductions of the Duke women's basketball program. After warming up the crowd with team introductions, head coach
Kara Lawson addressed the Crazies before a three-point contest and half-court shot contest rounded out the women's session.
Under first-year head coach
Jon Scheyer, the men's team's took the court next and kept the energy in the building high as each player was introduced. The Blue Devil men then took the court for a 16-minute intrasquad scrimmage, which the Blue squad won 41-26, behind 12 points on 3-of-3 shooting from three-point range from junior
Jeremy Roach.
Â
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The White team got on the board first as rookie Tyrese Proctor sent a bounce pass to classmate Mark Mitchell in transition for a two-hand slam.
- Proctor added a bucket of his own before Ryan Young's layup gave White 6-0 advantage.
- Sophomore Jaylen Blakes registered the first two points for Blue at the 12:25 mark via a perfect trip from the charity stripe.
- Blue surged in front, 8-6, with 10:09 remaining thanks to a 6-0 run that featured back-to-back paint buckets from freshmen Christian Reeves and Kyle Filipowski.
- After the lead swapped hands over the ensuing four minutes, Blue flexed its muscle and went on an 12-0 spurt to go up by a dozen.
- Reeves and Blakes combined for all 12 points during the run, scoring seven and five, respectively.
- Young snapped the scoring drought for White at 4:48 on a reverse inside and Kale Catchings netted a triple to pull his side within 10, but that would be as White would get.
- Consecutive treys from Roach pushed his team's lead back to 16 (36-20) as Blue put the game on ice.
Â
NOTES
- Junior Jeremy Roach poured in 12 points and dished a team-high three assists to lead three double-figure scorers for the blue squad.
- Freshman Christian Reeves scored 11 points and sophomore Jaylen Blakes added 10 for the Blue side.
- Reeves finished 4-of-4 from the field, 3-of-3 at the free throw line with three blocks and five boards in 13 minutes.
- Graduate student Jacob Grandison led the Blue's efforts on the glass with eight boards as Blue out-rebounded White, 24-14.
- White was led by freshman Tyrese Proctor with 10 points and two assists, while graduate student Kale Catchings chipped in seven points.
- Classmate Ryan Young tallied a team-best six rebounds and two steals.
- Freshmen Dariq Whitehead and Dereck Lively II each did not see action in the scrimmage due to injury.
Â
QUOTES
- "For me, it was a really special night to kick off the season ... and just to see Cameron, right. We haven't been here for a while and to see Cameron the way that it was; our students were incredible. They were in there for a few hours, but they packed it and I think for our guys, just to get a feel of what it's like playing here… We have 11 players, two of them didn't play tonight, but we have 11 players that haven't experienced that, so I think that's a big thing for us. Obviously, this should be a big advantage for us playing here, so, especially tonight. Thought the game was really good overall. There's a lot we have to work on. We're still coming together as a team. I think for our guys, we're tired of playing against each other. It's time we start playing against some other people. We have some work to do before that happens, but really excited about this group, how they've handled themselves. The preparation leading up to this point and now we get to start playing against other people, so, it's exciting to think about that." -- Head Coach Jon Scheyer
Â
UP NEXT
- Duke opens the regular season versus Jacksonville on Monday, Nov. 7 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Prior to the start of the regular season, Duke hosts Fayetteville State in an exhibition game on Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 7 p.m.
#GoDuke
Â