The Duke basketball program kicked off its 2025-26 campaign strong with a 96-71 victory in a charity exhibition match over Johnny Dawkins and UCF. However, the Blue Devils were without potentially the team's best two defenders in senior Maliq Brown and freshman Dame Sarr. Duke had its struggles defensively in the first half with poor communication and miscues on switches, but it was much cleaner across the second 20 minutes as the Blue Devils outscored the Knights 56-32 after entering the halftime locker room with a 40-39 lead. Duke head coach Jon Scheyer provided critical updates on the health of both Brown and Sarr, and the injuries don't look serious.
Jon Scheyer provides key injury updates on Maliq Brown and Dame Sarr
Brown was listed as out with a knee injury, as the big man underwent a minor knee scope a few weeks ago. As for Sarr, he was out with an oblique injury that appears to have come up fairly recently. Scheyer provided updates on the health of both players.
"Well, they're two of our best defenders, if not the best," Scheyer said. "And, their versatility, both those guys really can guard. Maliq one through five, as well as anybody in the country. Dame one through four pretty effortlessly. And so, the versatility on the defensive end, that's where we miss them the most. And then offensively, they're both great connectors. They know how to play. Both of them, it's not serious. Dame strained his oblique; hopefully, he can start to practice this week. I don't know about Sunday yet. Maliq, frankly, probably could've played. I'm just being cautious with him. The goal, ultimately, is to be ready for the season in the best way possible. So, we'll reevaluate him this weekend to see if he can do anything."
It seems like both of Duke's top defenders will be back on the floor sooner rather than later. Brown is coming off a season where he dislocated his shoulder twice and is now dealing with a minor knee issue, so it makes sense for Scheyer to be cautious, as he has the potential to be the top defender in college basketball.
Sarr is the projected starting small forward for the Blue Devils to kick off the season, so Scheyer and his staff would like to see him get some game action sooner rather than later. Duke has one more exhibition match this Sunday, October 26th, against Tennessee, but it remains to be seen if Brown and/or Sarr will be in action.