NCAA Basketball: Takeaways from 2020 Champions Classic participants

Duke Blue Devils – Need much more production out of the freshmen guards

It was an interesting decision to pull Jordan Goldwire from the starting lineup in favor of Jeremy Roach for this game but it was needed to add some offense. There was a lot of hype and potential surrounding both Roach and DJ Steward, a pair of five-star freshmen prospects and they were potential “one and done” for Duke.

Unfortunately, neither looked like it in this game. They each scored just six points each in this game, with Steward going 0/7 from the field overall and Roach ultimately fouling foul. The top scoring guard in this one for the Blue Devils turned out to be Goldwire, who finished with 10 points and two made three-pointers off the bench.

Steward led Duke with 24 points in the Coppin State win so this could be an indication of inconsistency for the season, some major performances, and a few stinkers along the way. But this is now back-to-back six-point efforts for Roach, who isn’t aggressive with his offense right now.

Goldwire is one of the best pure defenders in college basketball and if Roach isn’t going to be a double-digit producer on offense, Duke should have the senior take charge. I’ll leave Wendell Moore alone for now since the frontcourt options currently look bleak but if this team has any Final Four aspirations, both Roach and Steward will have to be consistently better.