The Duke basketball team landed a major win on opening night against Texas, but the one negative with the No. 6 Blue Devils’ (1-0) non-conference schedule is they either play one of the best teams in the country or a low level mid-major and its first stretch begins on Saturday.
Jon Scheyer’s squad will host Western Carolina (0-1) for its home opener and while its next three games should all be relatively easy wins; the games remain important for the team’s depth and development.
Cameron Boozer and Isaiah Evans could steal the headlines in these matchups, but fans should focus their attention on players like Sebastian Wilkins, Darren Harris, and Cayden Boozer to see how they perform.
Wilkins did not play in Duke’s victory over the Longhorns while Harris and Boozer saw a limited number of minutes during the first half and were on the bench for the majority of the second half while the Blue Devils were closing out the game.
Darren Harris has shown throughout the offseason that the work he did to transform his body could translate into significant playing time as a sophomore and he proved it when he knocked down a 3-pointer early in the first half on Tuesday night.
Many thought that Cayden Boozer could push Caleb Foster to be Duke’s starting point guard and while the junior played well against the Longhorns, Boozer could provide another scoring punch for the team alongside of Foster.
It remains to be seen how many players Scheyer truly trusts at this point of the season and Duke’s upcoming stretch could provide a brief look into who will be on the court in crunch time later in the season.
Tipoff between the Blue Devils and the Catamounts is slated for 1:30 p.m. ET (The CW Network) inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.