The Duke Blue Devils opened the 2026-27 season with an 80-54 win over Army on Monday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, and the early takeaway was hard to miss: this team can overwhelm people with size, defense, and depth.
Duke jumped all over Army right away, racing to a 12-0 lead by the under-16 media timeout. The Black Knights answered by going to a zone around the middle of the first half, and that slowed the Blue Devils down some on offense.
The game wasn’t especially clean for Duke on that end, but early-season rust is part of the deal. What stood out much more was how disruptive the Blue Devils were defensively and how difficult they made it for Army to find anything reliable in the paint.
Duke switched nearly everything off ball screens for most of the night, and Army had a tough time generating consistent interior action. The Blue Devils also controlled the glass and the lane, using their physical advantages to keep the Black Knights from settling in.
One of the biggest reasons for the buzz around this team was freshman guard Deron Rippey Jr., and he backed it up again. The 5-star rookie has been impressive in Duke’s three preseason games and on opening night, and the 6-foot-3 guard has clearly played his way into the rotation. Rippey’s athleticism, perimeter defense, and outside shooting have all shown up, and he added a few highlight finishes against Army as well.
That kind of production matters for a Duke backcourt that already includes Caleb Foster, Cayden Boozer, and John Blackwell. The guard room looks deep, and Rippey has made himself impossible to ignore.
Perimeter shooting was one of Duke’s issues last season, when the Blue Devils ranked 132nd nationally at KenPom in team three-point shooting percentage. There were signs of progress in the preseason, but Monday night was a mixed bag. Duke finished 4-of-22 from three, good for 18%, and missed all of its first-half attempts from deep.
Even with that cold stretch, the overall numbers told the story of a team that can win in a lot of different ways. Duke assisted on 13 of its 29 made baskets, grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, and dominated the paint 50-20. The offense had some rough patches, but the foundation was obvious.
For a season opener, Duke showed plenty to like and still left room to grow. That combination is exactly why the Blue Devil Nation walked out of Cameron feeling so good about what comes next.
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