Duke wasted no time showing how much firepower and depth it has on hand in its preseason scrimmage against Belmont, racing to a 49-25 halftime lead in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The opening stretch featured two experienced groups going at it. Jon Scheyer rolled out sophomores Cayden Boozer and Dame Sarr, junior Patrick Ngongba II and Wisconsin transfer John Blackwell, while Belmont coach Evan Bradds - who was an assistant at Duke last season - countered with a lineup built around two sophomores, two juniors and a senior.
Duke also had Caleb Foster sitting out with a minor ankle injury, along with former Bruin Drew Scharnowski. The Blue Devils’ first possession ended with a Ngongba turnover, but Blackwell quickly got the scoreboard moving by drawing a foul and hitting the game’s first points at the line.
Belmont briefly had the early edge after Ethan Sage knocked down the first 3-pointer of the game, but Duke answered in a hurry. Sarr and Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje each connected from deep, Boozer added another 3-pointer, and the Blue Devils had built a 13-7 lead by the first media timeout.
Sarr kept the run going with free throws, Belmont finally snapped its drought with a deep shot just before the clock expired, and Boumtje Boumtje soon buried another triple. From there, Duke never gave the lead back.
Belmont’s 3-2 and 5-4 advantages in the opening minutes were the only ones it saw all half.
Scheyer didn’t wait long to dig into his bench, either. Redshirt sophomore Sebastian Wilkins entered before the four-minute mark, and freshman Deron Rippey Jr. made his Cameron Indoor debut after the first media timeout.
Freshman center Maxine Meyer also got on the floor early and immediately made life difficult for Belmont, forcing a turnover that led to a foul on the break and two more points from Sarr. Freshman Bryson Howard checked in at the under-12, and freshman Cameron Williams arrived with a little more than five minutes left in the half.
Williams made his presence felt right away, blocking an Isiah West layup and then hammering home a dunk to push Duke ahead 33-16.
Belmont did manage a small push midway through the half. Aleksa Ristic scored inside, Boozer missed a layup, and Sage added another basket to trim the margin to eight at the under-eight timeout.
That was as close as the Bruins would get. Duke’s control at the foul line helped the gap keep growing, with Sarr leading the way on 14 points while going 7-for-8 at the stripe.
Blackwell added 12 points and was perfect on his five free throws. With the Crazies helping set the tone, Belmont went just 3-for-5 at the line.
Boumtje Boumtje was the headliner of the half. The only freshman in Duke’s starting group, he won the opening tip against 7-foot-1 Vincent Neugebauer and then kept making plays on both ends.
The 7-foot-2 center from Barcelona, Spain, finished the half with 14 points, five rebounds and two blocks. He scored inside, stepped out and hit from deep, attacked off the dribble, and even rejected a West layup.
With Cameron Boozer out of the frontcourt, Boumtje Boumtje looked every bit like the player carrying the load in that spot.
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