Duke vs. Arizona State: Live game reactions and analysis

Durham, North Carolina – Bobby Hurley makes his return to Cameron Indoor Stadium as Arizona State traveled to Durham to take on the Duke Blue Devils in an exhibition.

Stay tuned and keep track to the live blog as it happens.

Article Breakdown

Game Notes – Top
Post Game Quotes – Middle
Player Analysis – Bottom

Duke, Arizona State starters

Duke – Jr. G Tyrese Proctor, So. G Caleb Foster, Fr. F Cooper Flagg, Fr. F Kon Knueppel, Fr. C Khaman Maluach

Arizona State – Sr. G Alston Mason, Sr. F BJ Freeman, Sr. G Adam Miller, Fr. PF Jayden Quaintance, Jr. C Shawn Phillips

Hurley’s Return

Before the game started, Duke honored Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley. Hurley earned back-to-back national championships with the Blue Devils in the early 1990s before being a lottery pick in the NBA Draft.

Long-time Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and current head coach Jon Scheyer presented Hurley with a ball as a highlight reel played for the crowd. As you would expect, Hurley got a roaring ovation from the Cameron Crazies. Grant Hill is also in the stands for this occasion.

Bobby Hurley makes his return to Cameron Indoor Stadium pic.twitter.com/7eaHAghZ6Z

— Jamie Shaw (@JamieShaw5) October 27, 2024

Game Notes

1H 18:00 – Cooper Flagg, the Duke freshman, is aggressive early. The No. 1 ranked player in On3’s 2024 class, has a lot of expectations. This is his first high major experience in college. Only two minutes in and Flagg has the Cameron Crazies loud. – Duke 8, Arizona State 4

1H 15:56 – Timeout – Duke 10, Arizona State 4

1H 12:15 – Khaman Maluach is massive, and that has been an issue early for Arizona State. Listed at 7-foot-2, the Duke freshman has multiple dunks and he has been a presence around the rim. With a 7-foot-9 wing span, Maluach plays within himself. He has also shown good hands, playing out of the dunker spot, and rising up to finish above the rim. A true paint presence. – Duke 16, Arizona State 8

1H 10:58 – Arizona State freshman Jayden Quaintance has been very active early on. While his shot has not fallen early, he has attacked the glass on both ends and been a presence around the basket. Quaintance, only 17 years old, is a strong and explosive player and is playing with an instinctive motor early on. – Duke 18, Arizona State 8

1H 7:05 – This Duke team is playing with excellent spacing to this point. The ball is staying hot around the perimeter and while the shots are not falling, they are getting clean looks. More importantly, they are getting a lot of open attacking lanes and one-on-one coverage. – Duke 25, Arizona State 10

1H 3:05 – Tyrese Proctor comes back into the game to go on a nice 5-0 run himself. His three was smooth and in rhythm and his finish at the basket was through contact to get an open look. Proctor is in year three at Duke and for them to live up to expectations, he is going to have to be steady and consistent. So far tonight, 12 minutes played and 0 turnovers.

1H 2:50 – Caleb Foster has come out very aggressive, looking for his shot. He has knocked down a three and gotten into the paint for a floater. Foster has also gathered two steals. Foster is playing very comfortably starting at the two tonight for the Blue Devils.

1H 56.8 – Basheer Jihad has been Arizona State’s consistent offensive threat. He has taken his matchups one-on-one and attacked the basket. He has gotten to the free-throw line to knock down shots as well as finished at the rim. The 6-foot-9 senior is mostly drawing Duke’s five-man. This has been a matchup that has favored Arizona State to this point. Duke 35, Arizona State 31

Halftime; Duke 37, Arizona State 21

Six Duke players have scored led by Sophomore guard Caleb Foster’s 9. He is 4-6 FG and 1-2 3P. Cooper Flagg and Tyrese Proctor each have 7 and Khaman Maluach has 6.

For Arizona State, senior Basheer Jihad is the game’s leading scorer to this point with 10. He is 2-4 FG and 5-6 FT.

Arizona State is 2-13 from three with 9 turnovers and Duke is 2-11 from three with 5 turnovers.

Second Half

2H 18:02 – This paint matchup with Jayden Quaintance and Khaman Maluach has been interesting. Maluach is simply a physical presence, his size and length are a problem when he has his feet under him. Quaintance’s twitchy athleticism and his fluid movements have caused issues at times. Maluach gets Quaintace first, blocking his shot and then finishing at the rim on the other end. Quaintace comes right back getting an offensive rebound and finishing through contact, and-1. Duke 41, Arizona State 23

2H 16:48 – Duke freshman Kon Knueppel has now set the Cameron Crazies on fire with back-to-back 3s. The 6-foot-5 guard struggled a bit to find his footing in the first half going 0-3 from beyond the arc. He just knocked down and-1 three as I type this entry. He came out confident in the second, now with three threes. That happened quickly. Duke 47, Arizona State 23

2H 15:23 – Timeout. Duke 56, Arizona State 23

2H 8:01 – Duke senior Sion James knocked down his third three of the second half. The lengthy and strong wing has been a jack-of-all-trades for Duke, spreading the floor, guarding the ball, and acting as a secondary initiator. Even coming off the bench, he is a valuable piece for this Blue Devils team. – Duke 80, Arizona State 40

2H 6:20 – I talked about it above, but the spacing Duke is playing with is leading to clean looks. After only making two threes in the first half, they have now made 13 of them (13-19) in the second. Six different players have knocked down a three as we are almost 14 minutes into the second half.

Final; Duke 103, Arizona State 47

Duke freshman Kon Knueppel led all scorers with 19 points. He was 6-11 FG and 4-8 from three. Sophomore Caleb Foster (6-10FG/3-5 3P) finished with 17. Sion James had 13 and Darren Harris and Mason Gillis each had 10. Duke freshman Cooper Flagg finished with 9.

Jayden Quaintance and Basheer Jihad each finished with 11 for Arizona State.

Duke was 15-23 from three in the second half. The Blue Devils had 25 assists on 38 made shots for the game. For the game, Duke won the rebounding race 47-31 and the turnover battle 18-11.

Quotable

“I’ve been here enough in my four years to know what happened tonight has happened before,” – Arizona State head coach Bobby Hurley

“I thought our defense was much improved. Between the two games, I thought we were more connected. We made some switches with how we played our ball screen defense. (In the first game) I thought were just soft overall. I think with this game, the physicality, shows with the points in the paint and the rebounding. They just busted their butts,” Duke head coach Jon Scheyer

“Coach was really preaching defensive rebounding, and that was my focus. I felt I did a really good job on defense tonight. I know the shot is always going to be there, so I tried to be a little more aggressive,” Duke freshman Kon Knueppel

“Our mindset coming in was defensively and doing all the little things and being aggressive and physical. We wanted to really set the tone defensively. What we were most proud of in this game was holding them to 20 points in the first half. I think this team can be as good as we want to be,” – Duke senior Sion James

“Everything is mental. This definitely had a different feel from our other games, and I definitely felt the heat a little more. Once the nerves settled down, it was just another game. At this point, at this stage in basketball, nothing is really about the physical, it’s all about training your mental,” – Duke freshman Isaiah Evans

“I thought we did a good job in the first half, actually. I was just telling them good shots, and that they need to continue going to the boards and shooting the right ones. I thought the sharing and the shot selection were great. I believe that with the shooting on this team, that it’s only a matter of time. Now. I don’t know if it’s always going to be 15-23, but you do feel like you have a chance to make some shots with this group,” Jon Scheyer

“It was good seeing how they defend. They defended with physicality, they did all the things we didn’t do. They played like a very connected group,” – Bobby Hurley.

“We can be very good, you saw that tonight. We need to stick to the big picture and play as a team and treat every game the same way.” – Duke senior Maliq Brown.

“I thought the first-half offense was fine, but we all knew we had another gear we could kick into. We have an unbelievable amount of talent on this team, myself included. These guys are incredible, and my job is to do all the little things and help make the team look good,” – Sion James.

Duke’s Cameron Crazies

“They make the game fun, it makes basketball a fun game to play. There is nothing like Cameron Indoor Stadium, and I’m glad we get to play in here.” – Sion James

“I mean, you feed off of the environment’s energy. I’ve never had anything like that, it’s really great, especially when you hit a couple of threes or you get a breakaway dunk with Cooper. Just the momentum that the Crazies build is insane,” – Kon Knueppel.

Duke, Arizona State Top Performers

Fr. SG Kon Knueppel (Duke)

The story of the night was Kon Knueppel. More specifically, it was Knueppel’s second half. The 6-foot-5 shooting guard from Wisconsin finished with a game-high 19 total points after going 5-6 from the field and 4-5 from three after halftime.

What stands out the most when watching Knueppel is his consistent ability to be in the right place and then to make the right read on the play. Knueppel has a massive basketball IQ, so that is the base he is starting with. Off of that IQ, he plays out of a great base and is always on balance. His shot will be what gets talked about the most, and rightfully so, he has picturesque form with a quick and sound release. But it is his off-ball movement and his willingness to move the ball as well. He simply plays with a ton of confidence. And while Knueppel might not be the quickest player, he was always in position defensively tonight. He has anticipatory hands and feet, and he understands angles and help defense.

Even though Knueppel was On3’s No. 18 overall recruit in 2024, he was not voted a McDonald’s All-American. He showed tonight a lot of why he led the EYBL in scoring in 2023.

So. G Caleb Foster (Duke)

Tonight, Caleb Foster showed a glimpse of the totality of his game. At times, he was the lead guard, initiating the offense and moving the ball to open teammates. At times, he was the closer, the guard who was asked to put the ball in the basket.

Listed at 6-foot-5, there is beauty in the versatility of Foster’s game. He has a smooth jump shot with range well beyond the three-point arc. He is comfortable getting into his footwork off the bounce or off the catch. Tonight, Floster finished 3-5 from three. He also added three assists and two steals. While Foster does not have a breakdown-type handle, he can be aggressive in getting into the paint. His frame enables him to absorb contact and finish. He has positional size for both positions and he looks to be a bit more athletic from last season. While he is still not the most explosive player on the floor, he is very competitive.

He is playing with a lot of confidence so far this season, and with that, Duke is able to run a few different looks around Foster when he is on the floor.

Fr. PF Jayden Quaintance (Arizona State)

Jayden Quaintance was probably the lone bright spot for this Arizona State team tonight. Listed at 6-foot-9 and 230 pounds, Quaintance, at only 17 years old, is one of the youngest players in college basketball.

Physically, he does not look his age. He has a very strong build, with plus length, and twitchy athleticism. Quaintance’s athleticism and motor gave Duke some trouble at times. The motor was what stood out for Quaintance tonight. He played with an edge, and when you couple that edge with his unique physical tools, you find some production. Quaintance battled on the boards, he is going to continue to learn the footwork and setup of rebounding and not being able to just outjump people. He showed confidence stepping out to shoot the jump shot, and he put the ball on the floor to get to the rim in straight lines.

Defensively, Quaintance has a high upside. He is able to slide his feet, attack the passing lanes, and protect the rim. Right now, he is just raw, playing off of natural instinct. As he continues to learn the game and the nuances of basketball, watch out. He finished tonight with a team high 11 points and sixe rebounds with two steals and a block. Quaintance has big upside.

Fr. C Khaman Maluach (Duke)

Khaman Maluach is massive, there simply is no other way to put it. He is lised at 7-foot-2 and 250 pounds. He measured a 7-foot-9 wingpan in the past. Maluach does big guy things well, and he does it by leaning into his physical gifts and playing big.

Sure that might sound odd to read stated in that way, but Maluach utilizes every inch of his frame for positive production on the court. What impressed me the most with Maluach’s game tonight was how composed he was around the basket. No wasted movements for fouling, he simply put his hands high in the air and when he did not get the block he certainly got the intimidation. Malauch high-pointed rebounds and he was an effective lob threat playing out of the dunker spot and as a rim-runner.

Maluach does not move very well, and that caught him a couple times tonight out of his area or sliding to defend. However, he switched ends of the floor well and he finished plays – on both ends – around the basket. The freshman finished with 8 points (4-7 FG) and a game-high 12 rebounds with 2 blocks tonight.

Other Duke, Arizona State Notables

Fr. F Cooper Flagg (Duke) plays a simple, well-rounded game. The ball does not stick with him and he is ready to make a winning-type play. Tonight, Flagg came out early aggressively looking to score. The 6-foot-7 forward knocked down a nice catch-and-shoot jumper off movement and he had a tough and-1 play in the first couple of minutes. Flagg’s straight line aggression drew five fouls against the player guarding him. He moved the ball well and he made some nice freelance plays on defense, although he was a little upright at times which made him a step slower guarding the ball in those instances. In 20:36 played he finished with 9 points (3-9 FG), 4 rebounds, and 3 assists.

Sr. G Sion James (Duke) is the ultimate connector for this team. Listed at 6-foot-6 and 220 pounds, he plays from the one to the four at various times on this team. James guards up or down a lineup. He can act as a team’s primary initiator, he can space the floor, and he can make plays out of a short-roll or in the high post. James came off the bench in this one and played 21:28 minutes. He finished with 13 points (3-4 3P), 3 assists, and a steal. James has the look of a very valuable piece for the Blue Devils moving forward.

Jr. PG Tyrese Proctor (Duke) has the ball in his hands and he was able to keep a clean sheet tonight for Jon Scheyer. The 6-foot-5 junior point guard is the one tasked with keeping all these scoring options happy. While Proctor might not be the most dynamic lead guard out there, he finished tonight with zero turnovers. He added 10 points (2-3 3P) and three assists in 21:31 minutes. Efficient basketball is what Duke will need from Proctor this season, and tonight, Proctor was efficient.