Duke vs. Bellarmine: 5 biggest storylines for 2020-21 matchup

2. We knew Duke’s incoming class would be great – but some of their opening season stats have been borderline insane

The beginning of the 2020-21 season has also been tumultuous for the Duke Blue Devils, albeit, for different reasons.  They are incredibly young – their average years of experience is 0.8 – and it has shown in their opening two games against Coppin State and Michigan State.

The leaders of last season’s squad – Tre Jones, Vernon Carey Jr., and Cassius Stanley – are all gone, leaving sophomore returners Wendell Moore and Matthew Hurt to pick up the pieces and lead the new class of freshmen.

Luckily, those freshmen have been nothing short of sensational.  But, while showing flashes of asinine stat-lines, they have also been inconsistent – something they will need to fix before the ACC regular season begins.

While Hurt has led the team in scoring (16.5) and Moore is fourth (8.5), freshmen Jalen Johnson, DJ Steward, and Jaemyn Brakefield have all supplied offensive boosts for the Blue Devils – and recorded some insane statistics in the process.

In their game against Coppin State, for example, Johnson – in his collegiate debut – went off for 19 points on a perfect shooting clip (8-8 FG, 1-1 3PT, 2-2 FT) all the while collecting 19 rebounds (4 offensive, 15 defensive).  He did turn the ball over seven times, but also dished out five assists and blocked four shots.

And Johnson did not even lead all scorers for Duke in that game. Steward, a 6-2 guard, tallied a game-high 24 points (10-18 FG, 4-9 3PT) in his first-ever collegiate game, gathering nine boards in the process.

Their performances, however, raised a few issues in the Michigan State game, particularly for Steward.  Johnson fared much worse against the Spartans but was still able to record 11 points on 4-11 shooting.  Steward struggled mightily, going scoreless from the field (0-7 FG, 0-3 3PT) but collecting six points from the charity stripe.

But there was a plus in the Michigan State game in the form of Brakefield, who barely played at all against Coppin State – just four minutes, in fact.  But his presence was necessary for Duke to remain competitive against the Spartans, playing 15 minutes and scoring 11 points (4-6 FG, 1-3 3PT, 2-4 FT).

If anything can be taken away from this incredibly early point, it is that Duke’s freshmen – thus far – have been inconsistent, but they have also shown that one – or two – can provide a scoring boost at any time.

Hurt has not had many issues scoring, recording 12 against Coppin State and game-highs in points (21) and rebounds (13) against Michigan State – but he cannot be alone if the Blue Devils hope to win.  If Duke intends to come out of the Bellarmine game with a win, expect – at the very least – two of the freshmen to have stand-out performances.