Maliq Brown is very soft-spoken but the Duke basketball players knew how much a victory on Wednesday night against Syracuse would mean to him.
Brown, playing in his second game since returning from a knee sprain, faced his former team for the first time since transferring to the Blue Devils this offseason and immediately made his impact known on the defensive end of the floor.
“Just dominate them,” Tyrese Proctor said of his conversations with Brown about playing the Orange. “We all wanted to get this win for Maliq. And I thought we did a great job.”
Brown finished with six points, eight rebounds, and three steals off the bench in 22 minutes while leading the team with a +/- rating of +24.
“He's so unselfish,” Proctor added. “I think he's too unselfish at times. But it just makes our team better…He's such a good defender and allows us to get in transition a lot.”
When Maliq Brown checked into the game for the first time there was a chorus of boos that came from the Syracuse fans and the score was too lopsided for them to jeer him any time he touched the ball.
Many of the Orange fans had already left before the final buzzer sounded on the 29-point Duke win as Brown and the Blue Devils got the final laugh.
“He was pretty locked in and focused,” Jon Scheyer commented on the extra motivation for Brown playing his former team. “If you know Maliq, he doesn't have a whole lot to say. He was, I thought, really prepared.”
“Maliq has changed our team dramatically,” Scheyer added. “Maliq is the ultimate teammate. He's incredibly unselfish. He's been everything we could ask for and more. He’s not going to blow you away with his scoring, but that's not what he does. He's a menace on the defensive end. His passing. His energy.”
It’s the only time that Duke is slated to face Syracuse this season, although the two programs could meet again in the ACC Tournament. The 2025-26 conference opponents are not known yet but Maliq Brown would get another chance to play the Orange assuming he returns to the Blue Devils for his final year of eligibility.