The Duke basketball team landed its signature victory of the season on Wednesday night at home against No. 2 Auburn and while many are focused on the breakout performance from freshman Isaiah Evans, the Blue Devils still have some things to work out with sophomore Caleb Foster.
Foster, after struggling for a majority of the first month, was removed from the starting lineup in place of Sion James for the first time this season.
The decision came on the heels of Foster playing just 18 minutes against Seattle and scoring seven points. Against Kansas, he did not play the final 13:56 and sat for the majority of the final 10:45 against Auburn before checking in during the final seconds so Duke could have its best free throw shooters on the floor.
“I believe so much in Caleb and I think he’d be the first to say that he hasn’t gotten off to the year that he would like so far,” Jon Scheyer said after the 84-78 victory. “We need him so badly, just to be himself.”
The sophomore guard played well after his benching, scoring nine points in 14 minutes during the first half and making 3-of-5 shot attempts. He looked like the player that many saw during his rookie campaign which yielded the expectations of a major second season.
However, he only logged six minutes in the second half – none of which were due to poor play – and attempted three shots.
“I thought he was competitive and had a maturity and a great response about him,” Scheyer continued.
Foster is averaging 8.9 points per game, an increase from his numbers last season, but has seen his 3-point shooting dip at just 32.1-percent.
Jon Scheyer was non-committal on who would start for the Blue Devils (6-2) in its next game, which begins ACC play on Sunday evening (6:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network) against Louisville (5-3), but it seems likely that he won’t adjust the starting lineup after registering such an impressive victory.