LAVAL, Quebec—The Blue Devils closed out their preseason tour in Canada Sunday at Place Bell just outside Montreal, where Duke impressed another sold-out crowd in its final action before October. Here are five observations from the Blue Devils' 103-58 victory against McGill.
1. Player of the game: Zion Williamson
After R.J. Barrett averaged 34.5 points and 7 rebounds per contest in two games in his hometown of Mississauga, Ontario, it was Williamson who dominated Sunday. The 6-foot-7 forward could not be stopped, bullying his way on the interior to 36 points and 13 rebounds. The Spartanburg, S.C., native continued to show he’s about much more than just dunks, adding three steals, four assists and two blocks in a steady, all-around outing.
2. Duke overcomes another slow start
The Blue Devils looked sluggish out of the gate, struggling to convert on offense while looking vulnerable defensively en route to an early 11-8 deficit. Williamson helped Duke climb out of the rut, leading it on 9-0 run to open up a 26-17 advantage early in the second quarter. The Blue Devils then picked up the defensive effort in the second quarter as well, holding McGill to 39 percent shooting from the field while Duke converted on 55 percent of its own attempts to open up a 13-point halftime lead.
"We started off really sloppy, I think we just kind of picked it up as the game went on," Williamson said. "But, in the future we won’t be able to afford to start off sloppy like that."
3. Offensive attack more balanced early on
After relying heavily on Williamson and Barrett during the tour’s first two contests, the Blue Devil attack was much more balanced out of the gate Sunday. The freshmen scored 37 of Duke’s first 40 against Ryerson and the first 21 against Toronto, but they received some help instantly with a pair of triples from newly-inserted starter Jordan Goldwire in the first quarter. Jack White, Javin DeLaurier and Joey Baker also contributed, adding seven, 10 and 10 points respectively.
"I thought they shared the ball," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "R.J. had 10 assists. They shared. The first half, we really had to play that way, and then the second half when we pulled away, I thought we played team ball throughout and really kept up our defense. Sometimes that goes out the window, kids stop playing hard."
4. What's wrong with Marques Bolden?
Bolden scored no points in the first two games of the tour, prompting a benching from head coach Mike Krzyzewski in favor of Antonio Vrankovic. After sitting the first eight minutes of the contest and becoming the ninth Blue Devil to enter the game, Bolden continued to look lethargic from the field, finishing with no points, one turnover and three fouls in just 10 minutes of play.
5. The team Duke fans will come to know should look a lot different
While freshmen Williamson and Barrett put on a show north of the border, there is still a lot to be learned about this team. We saw a little bit of the modern “positionless basketball” due to injuries this week, but these Blue Devils will likely look very different come October. With freshmen Cameron Reddish and Tre Jones and sophomore Alex O’Connell set to rejoin the lineup there is still a lot to learn and a ton of growth to come from the 2018-19 Blue Devils.
"This helped us," Krzyzewski said. We were going to do one last year, and then after two practices, I had my second knee replacement. It was really good that we didn’t do it then. Really, this was planned—we had thought about coming to Canada all the time, and then R.J. made it good.... 10,000 people here today, 5,500 in each of those other games. It’s been incredible, not good. We thank the people who made all that happen."
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Digital Strategy Director for Vol. 115, Michael was previously Sports Editor for Vol. 114 and Assistant Blue Zone Editor for Vol. 113. Michael is a senior majoring in Statistical Science and is interested in data analytics and using data to make insights.