Duke Basketball: Takeaways from stunning overtime win at North Carolina
Tre Jones is the X-Factor
Tre Jones is the most important player on this 2019-20 Duke basketball team. Jones scored 15 consecutive points for Duke between the end of regulation and overtime, including a buzzer-beater which sent the game into overtime.
In the first half, it was all Vernon Carey jr. as he scored 18 points and seemed to be Duke’s only source of offense, but he would later foul out after failing to score in the second half.
Carey fouling out wasn’t good, but it wasn’t the end of the world for Duke because that’s when Tre Jones showed up and took over. Jones had 22 points combined between the second half and overtime, accounting for more than 1/3rd of Duke’s points over that stretch.
The fact that he can just put his head down, get 15 consecutive points for Duke including a buzzer-beater that sent it to overtime and help his team win games, speaks to how good he is and what he means for Duke.
Jones and Carey have been Duke’s best players all year but on Saturday night, Jones proved to be the most important player on the floor.
Jones has the ability to both get his team involved and finding them when they need to be found, while also being able to do it himself. With a total of 28 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals, Jones did it all against North Carolina.
Not only is Jones great on the offensive end, but he is also one of Duke’s best defenders and he gets the job done on that end as well.
Jones was already in the conversation, but his game against North Carolina might’ve solidified his spot as the best point guard in all of College Basketball.
He is averaging incredible numbers with 15.8 points, 6.6 assists, four rebounds and two steals per game including two games with a double-double, four games scoring 20 points or more, three games with double-digit assists and eight games with three steals or more.
If those numbers don’t scream “star point-guard” to you I’m not quite sure what will. Tre Jones Is the most important player on this young Duke team and he will continue to prove why that is as the calendar flips to March.