Duke’s 103-63 rout of No. 8 Tennessee on Tuesday was the kind of night that leaves a message without needing to shout. The Blue Devils were crisp, connected and constantly moving the ball, and the whole performance underlined the same point from start to finish: this wasn’t built around one star carrying the load.
“It’s not going to be where everybody’s scoring 15 or 20 points a game,” head coach Jon Scheyer said. “You do have to sacrifice,”
That sacrifice showed up everywhere. Duke had six players score in double figures and finished with 11 players in the scoring column.
Tennessee, by comparison, had only three players reach double figures. The Blue Devils also had 44.4% of their baskets come off assists, while the Volunteers had 35.0% of their shots assisted.
Cayden Boozer was one of the clearest examples of that unselfish approach. The sophomore finished with just two points, both from the free-throw line, but his fingerprints were all over the offense.
With a little less than eight minutes left, Boozer grabbed a rebound, quickly advanced the play and found Cameron Williams for a fast-break basket. It was Williams’ only field goal of the night, but it fit the flow of Duke’s attack.
Boozer also set up Sebastian Wilkins on another assist.
Wilkins made the most of his 20 minutes off the bench, producing 11 points, five rebounds and a steal. Despite his redshirt status last season, the Boston native looked comfortable throughout the game.
Dame Sarr led Duke in minutes, logging 25 and scoring 15 points. And while the Blue Devils spread the production around, the game still had one clear theme: trust. They kept finding the open man and kept making Tennessee cover the floor.
Rick Barnes didn’t sound as if his team had figured itself out yet after the exhibition. “We got to compete, and we did not hit that level.
I don't think we understand our team yet," Barnes said. “It’s determination, it’s guts, it’s just doing it - just finding a way.
I'm not even sure how much the technique really matters.”
Tennessee’s issues went beyond shot-making. The Volunteers committed 13 turnovers and missed eight free throws, and they never matched Duke’s consistency or composure. Even with injuries already thinning the roster, including Terrence Hill Jr., who played just four-and-a-half minutes in Durham before leaving with an injury, the Volunteers looked disconnected.
Duke, meanwhile, is still without seniors Caleb Foster and Drew Scharnowski. Scharnowski, a transfer, has yet to make his Cameron Indoor Stadium debut. Those absences matter, too, because both players are expected to add leadership and experience to a group already showing how well it can communicate and share the offense.
Last season’s Duke team was built differently, with now-NBA player Cameron Boozer handling more than a quarter of the team’s points and handing out 157 assists, more than three times the total of then-sophomore Isaiah Evans, who was the team’s next-best playmaker. This roster looks nothing like that.
Blue Devil fans spent the offseason wondering who would become the next face of the team, the next early NBA draft pick. Scheyer’s answer, at least for now, has been depth.
“This game counts as zero for us - zero wins,” Sarr said. Still, the way Duke won made the point unmistakable. The Blue Devils looked like a team that knows how to rely on itself.
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