Duke Basketball: Takeaways from dominant 30-point home win over Miami

Bench contributions

Obviously, for a team of Duke’s caliber, the bench unit isn’t going to be as important as it is for other programs. That being said, this year’s Blue Devil bench unit has taken on greater importance with a litany of injuries throughout the season, the most impactful so far being a significant hand injury for freshman wing Wendell Moore Jr. Duke has kept on rolling and on Tuesday they got some nice contributions from their bench.

In the 89-59 win over Miami, Duke reserve forward Joey Baker came in and scored nine points in 12 minutes behind a solid (3-for-5) shooting effort from 3-point range. Javin DeLaurirer played 14 minutes, grabbing nine rebounds and blocking two shots. Senior Jack White played 18 minutes and along with his usual solid screen-setting and passing, he chipped in five points, a steal and two blocks, including one big-time, highlight reel-worthy swat where he met someone at the apex of their jump.

Anytime Coach K can get 20+ points from his bench (27 in this case) he is happy, as that likely means Duke won the game. Baker (44%) and White (35%) have been dependable floor spacers and Javin DeLaurier (3.6 blocks per 100 possessions in 2019-20) bridges the gap as the defensive with more ability to guard in space than much bigger Carey.

Duke’s next game, against Pittsburgh on January 28, could be a very physical matchup due to the extremely slow tempo at which Pittsburgh plays at.  If Carey or any of the Duke starters get into foul trouble early, expect to see Coach K with less reluctance to go the bench, even Alex O’Connell(eight points in five minutes on Tuesday), as he looks to buy some time.