Defining the 2023-24 Duke basketball season is tough. In fact, interpretation has to be left to each individual.
On one hand, Duke made a deep run in the NCAA Tournament reaching the Elite Eight and coming up just shy of another Final Four appearance. On the other hand, though, Final Fours are the expectation rather than the exception in Durham.
Therefore, some fans might not be pleased with what the Blue Devils accomplished this past season. After all, the massive expectations from the fan base essentially stipulate that a Final Four appearance is required before even beginning to discuss a successful season. What’s more, this was a year that saw the Blue Devils get swept by North Carolina adding to the frustration of many.
But to say that Duke’s season was unsuccessful would also be unfair. In just the second season of head coach Jon Scheyer’s tenure, Duke managed to take a step forward in the NCAA Tournament and reach the second weekend after failing to do so in Scheyer’s first season in charge. Ultimately, that is progress, even if it isn’t to the level that the most demanding sections of the Duke populace might have hoped to see.
As we begin our summer slog, it is a natural time to look back on Duke’s season and put the picture in the frame. Today, we begin that process by looking at the Blue Devils’ biggest triumphs from their most recent season. Here is a countdown of the five defining wins of 2023-24.
No. 5: Duke 79 – NC State 64
No one knew it at the time but Duke’s 15-point win over NC State in Raleigh would prove to be one of the best wins the Blue Devils would secure this season. When it happened, though, it was just another ho-hum win over an in-state team that Duke usually dominates.
The 79-64 victory saw Scheyer’s team put on a clinic in the second half turning a three-point halftime lead into a comfortable win. After intermission, Duke outscored the Wolfpack 46-34 to waltz home victorious.
Point guard Jeremy Roach led the way with 21 points while Jared McCain had 16. But it was a defensive decision that helped Duke pick up the win.
Deciding not to double-team State’s big man, DJ Burns Jr., the Devils let the future darling of the NCAA Tournament score 27 points. However, Duke didn’t allow NC State to fire away from 3-point range limiting the Pack to only 3-9 shooting from beyond the arc for the game by not sending extra help Burns’ way.
This was the second-to-last game of the regular season for both teams and after a loss to Pitt to close out the regular season, NC State would begin its magical postseason run that saw it win nine straight games to reach the Final Four. So though this win seemed like just another run-of-the-mill blowout when it happened, it was actually quite an impressive victory given the streak NC State was about to embark upon.
No. 4: Duke 72 – Clemson 71
In late January, no one expected Clemson to be one of the stories of March. In fact, after falling to Duke 72-71 in Durham, the Tigers were just 3-5 in ACC play.
In hindsight, though, this was a rather impressive win for Duke. It was also one that almost didn’t happen.
With one second left, the Blue Devils trailed by a point. That’s when Tyrese Proctor toed the free-throw line where he would sink both attempts to give his team the win to keep alive a home winning streak over Clemson that stretches back almost three decades.
After a 9-0 start to the year, Clemson had been ranked as high as No. 13 before falling into a funk by the time this game rolled around. Still, the Tigers brought their best game to Durham and thanks to a 15-0 edge in second-chance points and a dominant day on the glass, they put a scare of epic proportions into the home team.
Meanwhile, Duke was in a stretch where it won eight of nine games after a bit of a wobble in mid-January. Of course, no one thought at the time that this win would prove to be as impressive as it did.
Clemson would shock everyone in the nation by reaching the Elite Eight this season before falling to Alabama. The Tigers proved to be a tough-minded and rugged team capable of beating almost anyone in the country and that’s why this one-point escape at home is one of the defining wins of the season for the Blue Devils.
No. 3: Duke 78 – No. 10 Baylor 70
This season, Duke didn’t have many marquee non-conference wins to open the schedule. In fact, the Blue Devils dropped high-profile early-season games to Arizona and Arkansas before ACC play got going.
One massive non-con win, though, came at Madison Square Garden in New York City against No. 10 Baylor. In fact, the 78-70 win was by far the best non-con win of the regular season.
This was a game that saw backup center Ryan Young have to play key minutes down the stretch with starting center Kyle Filipowski saddled with four fouls. Though Young scored only four points and grabbed only three rebounds in eight minutes of action, he had a critical go-ahead layup as part of the decisive 14-1 Duke run in the second half.
Duke held Baylor 18 points below its season average that night. A large part of that effort was a result of forcing 13 turnovers from the Bears.
Jared McCain led the way with 21 points while Roach added 18 as Duke’s starters scored all but four of their team’s points. However, Young came up with some key plays off the bench when needed to help spark his team.
Baylor would spend all year ranked in the top 25 and would finish the season ranked as high as No. 14. That’s why this non-conference win was one of the best of the season for Duke.
No. 2: Duke 93 – James Madison 55
Everyone loves a Cinderella in the NCAA Tournament. That is, of course, unless you are the team playing Cinderella.
That’s the position Duke found itself in when the second round of the NCAA Tournament arrived. Seeded 4th in the South Region, Duke had to tangle with one of the darlings of the season, No. 12 seed James Madison.
During the regular season, the Dukes had secured a road win over then-No. 4 Michigan State to open the schedule and grab America’s attention. Then, by virtue of a 31-3 season, they were one of the trendy picks to make a deep run in March as a double-digit seed.
What’s more, a first-round win over No. 5 seeded Wisconsin only stoked those fires. That’s why many were predicting that JMU would upset the Blue Devils in round two.
Fortunately, Jared McCain would have none of that talk. In a 93-55 drubbing, the freshman guard would go 10-15 from the field and 8-11 from 3-point range on his way to 30 points. In that one performance alone, he likely cemented his NBA hopes as he’s projected to be a first-round pick this summer.
Any March win is special. However, shutting up a nation full of doubters by drubbing one of the darling Cinderellas of the country is something that every blue-blood relishes and that’s what Duke did in this season’s second-best win.
No. 1: Duke 54 – Houston 51
On paper, Duke and Houston seemed to be a matchup of opposites when they met in the Sweet 16. Houston was a defense-first, grind-it-out team led by a grizzled head coach and a pack of veterans. Meanwhile, Duke was seen as a finesse squad that lived by the outside shot and which relied on youth, and was led by a head coach still earning his stripes.
However, Duke was the team that won the rock fight that transpired in Dallas, not the Cougars. That surprised many around the nation.
Yes, we must all admit that the ankle injury that took Big 12 Player of the Year, Jamal Shead, out of the game late in the first half played a massive role in the outcome. Anyone who denies that fact is delusional.
With that said Duke isn’t supposed to be able to win cage matches against a team that makes basketball look like bare-knuckle boxing. That’s what the Blue Devils did, though.
To the surprise of no one, Houston dominated and controlled the pace of play. But to the surprise of many, Duke was up for the fight.
Filipowski was the difference as he scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the 54-51 win. It was a step forward for Duke under Scheyer as the program proved that it had enough grit and determination to play Houston’s style of basketball and come out on top. Certainly, this win was one that the program and its head coach can grow from and it was easily the defining victory of 2023-24.
