There haven’t been too many points of public adversity for the Duke basketball team this season – it’s what happens when you only have two losses in mid-February – but Tuesday night against Pittsburgh provided a peek behind the curtain.
Jon Scheyer benched Isaiah Evans and Maliq Brown at the start of the second half. It was a stunner to see Evans on the sidelines despite his struggles from 3-point range and Brown, who was starting for the injured Pat Ngongba, was trying to anchor the frontcourt next to Cameron Boozer.
Instead, Scheyer went small with Cayden Boozer and Darren Harris.
The message was certainly received by Evans, who didn’t miss a shot in the second half and made four 3-pointers in the process. Brown, known for his incredible defensive versatility, had a sub-par performance.
The Duke head coach is hoping it served as a wakeup call for both players.
“I didn't think we played to the competitive level that that was necessary in this game,” Scheyer said when asked about the halftime lineup change.
“I'm a big believer, learned this from the best coach ever, you have to throw yourself into the defense and the competitiveness that's required. And I thought that group gave us the best competitive spirit.”
Duke ended the first half on a 7-0 run, turning a one-point deficit into a six-point advantage. It carried over into scoring the opening five points of the second half and building an 11-point lead, which was its largest of the game at that point.
“They gave us a lead going into halftime, and I wanted to reward them with that. And they did the same thing coming out of the second half,” Scheyer added.
Then, it was Evans who took over while Brown, who picked up three fouls in the second half to foul out of the game in the final minute, made little contributions.
“For Isaiah [Evans] to come in and do what he did to respond was really good. For Maliq [Brown], obviously he's been one of the key guys for us. It was about finding five guys. Look, we were playing lineups anyway that we've never played before. It was about finding a lineup that we could have a spark and have that defense and competitiveness.”
Duke will hope both players bring the intensity and defense required to be on the floor when it faces No. 20 Clemson on Saturday afternoon (12:00 p.m. ET, ESPN) in a game that will shape the race for the ACC regular season title.