The Duke basketball team is turning heads around the country, specifically with one of its former rivals at North Carolina.
During the Blue Devil 76-65 victory over Louisville, Syracuse transfer center Maliq Brown took over the game defensively with 11 rebounds, three steals, and a block in 29 minutes of action coming off the bench.
Duke outscored the Cardinals by 24 points with Brown on the floor.
Brown outplayed Duke’s starting center, Khaman Maluach, by 18 minutes. It was the third straight game that the sophomore received more minutes than the freshman despite not being in the starting lineup.
It does not seem like head coach Jon Scheyer will change the starting lineup and replace Maluach with Brown.
However, in the midst of a 18-4 run that ended up securing the win for the Blue Devils, former North Carolina center Armando Bacot took notice of Maliq Brown’s play and posted on social media, “Maliq Brown is so good at the small things.”
Maliq Brown is so good at the small things
— Armando Bacot Jr. (@iget_buckets35) December 9, 2024
Bacot, who had previously said that he grew up as a Duke basketball fan, has experience playing against Brown while he was still with Syracuse.
Brown, a member of the ACC All-Defensive Team last season, averaged 7.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 1.3 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game in his career against Bacot and the Tar Heels during his time with the Orange and is now posting 3.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, and 2.1 steals per contest this season with Duke.
a masterclass in MENACE by @MaliqBrown1 ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/YXfNvkfKmV
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) December 9, 2024
He is likely the current favorite for the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a contender for National Defensive Player of the Year awards.
Maliq Brown and the rest of the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils (7-2) return to the court on Tuesday night (7:00 p.m. ET, ACC Network) inside Cameron Indoor Stadium to play Incarnate Word (5-4).