5 observations from No. 3 Duke men's basketball's first half against Cal
Following No. 3 Duke’s third loss of the season, it hosts Cal in the first ACC matchup between the two squads. At the halftime buzzer, the Blue Devils lead the Golden Bears 38-23:
Graduate forward Mason Gillis returned to the Cameron Indoor Stadium floor following a two-game absence due to illness. The 6-foot-6 sharpshooter practiced Monday and checked in just over six minutes into Wednesday’s contest.
So far this year, Gillis averages 4.8 points per game on 36.4% shooting from three. Additionally, he has been featured by head coach Jon Scheyer as a savvy on-ball defender, using his strength to pick up both guards and forwards on the defensive side of the floor. Just as Scheyer imagined, Gillis drained a top-of-the-key triple in his first shot back, as well as adding a rebound in nine minutes of first-half play.
Starting off the matchup scorching on both ends, Duke shot out to a quick 7-0 lead after two Tyrese Proctor buckets and a Khaman Maluach tip-in. Nonetheless, Scheyer optioned to junior forward Maliq Brown perhaps earlier than he would have liked with Maluach picking up an early non-shooting foul in the first three minutes of the contest. In Maluach’s early minutes, the Blue Devils looked like the far better squad; however, as he checked out, the Golden Bears went on a 7-2 run of their own.
Although Cal center Mady Sissoko hit a jumper of his own, the Blue Devils’ struggles were far from Brown’s responsibility as they missed two driving looks at the rim. Additionally, Cal found easy offense through the form of an open Rytis Petraitis 3-pointer and a turnaround Andrej Stojakovic jumper. Going into the first media timeout, Duke led Cal 9-7.
Entering the game as the ACC’s seventh-leading scorer at 16.9 points per contest, Stojakovic assumes a heavy burden on Cal’s offensive end of the floor. Duke took an aggressive approach to guarding the standout guard, throwing physical defenders at Stojakovic such as Proctor and Kon Knueppel. In Stojakovic’s first nine minute stint of the matchup, the sophomore added four points on four attempts.
In Stojakovic’s second stint, he added four more points, including a pair at the free-throw line. As practically Cal’s only threat to beat Duke defenders off of the dribble, Stojakovic provided some open looks for his teammates, but the Blue Devils’ stifling defense limited his contributions as best as they could.
Make no mistake about it: The 38-point first half for the Blue Devils was not due to free throws or poor defending, but rather excellent shooting from beyond-the-arc.
Four Blue Devils added triples — including the 7-foot-2 center Maluach, his second of the season — en route to 6-for-13 shooting from deep. The Golden Bears had no response to this barrage, relying on tough attempts at the rim and contested jumpers. Although the Blue Devils ended on a slightly colder note from three, the driving lanes and rushed closeouts forced led to easier looks in the waning moments of the first half.
Although he picked up an early foul, Maluach had one of his most impactful halves of the season, contributing six points, six rebounds and two assists. Maluach’s impact goes far beyond the statsheet, clogging up driving lanes on defense and opening them up for teammates on offense. Additionally, Maluach was a menace on baseline out-of-bounds plays for Cal, tipping a pass that led to a turnover early in the half.
If Maluach can continue to display himself as a threat from the perimeter, he can be one of the more influential players in college basketball.
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.
