Duke basketball: Freshmen soar as Blue Devils topple Toronto

During Duke basketball’s victory over the University of Toronto on Friday, two freshmen once again ruled the scoring column and the highlight reel.

Freshmen R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson have combined to score 122 of the Duke basketball team’s 182 points through the first two exhibitions of a three-game Canada Tour. And that has happened despite both of them sitting for significant chunks of time in the second halves of each blowout win.

Barrett finished Friday night’s contest 15-of-26 from the field for 35 points, giving the 6-foot-7 combo guard 69 total points in his first two games wearing a Duke Blue Devils jersey.

The Mississauga, Canada, native led the team in scoring for the second straight game as Duke defeated Toronto, 96-60. Barrett also added nine rebounds.

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Williamson contributed 24 points and eight boards. However, Duke fans are quickly learning that the most impactful contribution of the Spartanburg, S.C., native seems to come in the form of monstrous dunks intended to demoralize whatever team he is playing. Against Toronto, the 6-foot-7, 285-pound YouTube sensation had too many viral-worthy moments to list here.

The freshmen duo combined for all but two of Duke’s first 23 points, sparking the Blue Devils to take a 42-28 lead by halftime.

Another freshman with double-figure scoring was Joey Baker. The 6-foot-7 native of Fayetteville, N.C., came off the bench to hit a couple of smooth-looking corner threes and ended with 11 points.

A curious absence after the first quarter was junior center Marques Bolden. Although he started the game, he scored zero points — he also did not score in the Blue Devils’ Canada Tour opener — and found himself on the bench for every minute of the final three quarters.

Bolden looked more like a passive spectator than an assertive player during the brief action that he did see.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski seemed to be as perplexed as viewers by the lackluster play of the 20-year-old. Most fans have been expecting Bolden to earn a starting role for the 2018-19 season while building on the flashes of strong play that he displayed toward the end of last season.

“I think I saw what you saw,” Krzyzewski said after the game, as reported by Michael Model of The Chronicle. “I have to see more than what you saw because I’m just seeing what you saw.”

As for the most positive takeaway from Friday’s contest, Duke fans saw that Barrett is obviously more than comfortable running the team from the point; in fact, he seems to thrive at the job.

Based on his play from the past two games, it looks as if Barrett is a gifted decision-maker and may be on his way to serving as the Blue Devils’ go-to point guard in big games whenever fellow freshman Tre Jones is on the bench.

After the game, Williamson didn’t seem too surprised by Barrett performing so well in front of so many of his fellow Canadians.

“He told me he was the prime minister of Canada,” Williamson joked during a post-game interview on ESPN+.

“I wish I was,” Barrett responded.

He certainly appears capable of becoming a primary leader of a squad in Durham.

The Duke basketball team will play its final game of its Canada Tour against McGill University in Montreal on Sunday at 3 p.m. EST. That game will also be available on ESPN+.