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Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from Blue Devils victory over Coppin State

By Matthew Travis

Mar 7, 2020; Durham, North Carolina, USA; A general overview of the Duke Blue Devils bench prior to a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2020; Durham, North Carolina, USA; A general overview of the Duke Blue Devils bench prior to a game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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Duke Basketball DJ Steward (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
Duke Basketball DJ Steward (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

Jalen Johnson and DJ Steward are the Real Deal

Saturday afternoon was the first time we got to see Duke’s freshmen in action. Duke has six key freshmen in Jalen Johnson, DJ Steward, Jeremy Roach, Mark Williams, Henry Coleman, and Jaemyn Brakefield, but on Saturday the play of two stuck out the most.

Jalen Johnson and DJ Steward were incredible in their collegiate debuts, Johnson had a double-double before halftime, finishing with 19 points, 19 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks on perfect shooting, while Steward finished with 24 points, nine rebounds, two assists, a steal, and a block, off the bench.

With his impressive game, Johnson became the first major conference player over the last 20 seasons to debut with a game of 15 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists, and became only the third Duke freshman to post a double-double in their debut. Steward on the other hand scored the fourth-most points by a Duke freshman in their debut.

These two were incredible and will undoubtedly be two of Duke’s best players over the course of the 2020-21 season. Johnson was great right out of the bat as he had 15 points at halftime, while DJ Steward picked it up as the game went on finishing with 24 points on 10-18 shooting.

I was a bit surprised Steward wasn’t starting right out of the gate, but based on his performance on Saturday, I would fully expect him to start in Duke’s next game when they take on Michigan State as apart of the Champions Classic on Tuesday.

This is HUGE for the Blue Devils that they know they have at least one guard who they know they can get around 20+ points a game out of because last season they obviously lost Tre Jones who was the 2019-20 ACC Player of the Year.

If Steward is able to step into the role Jones left behind, Duke is going to be in a very good position this season. As for Johnson, nobody was quite sure what kind of production Duke would get out of him, but if game one is any indication of what’s to come, I’m pretty sure they’re going to be happy with the results.

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