Duke basketball adds another game to daunting non-conference schedule

The Duke basketball non-conference schedule is daunting and the Blue Devils have finally added another game at home.

With games lined up against Arizona, Kentucky, Kansas, Illinois, and an SEC opponent to be named at a later date, Jon Scheyer is working on a mid-major portion of the schedule and has booked a date with George Mason.

The game will be played on December 7. It's the second game that the Blue Devils have booked at home for next season with other reports indicating that its opening night opponent will be Maine, the home state of Cooper Flagg and the alma mater of his mother, on November 4.

George Mason, out of the Atlantic-10 Conference, is coming off of a 20-12 (9-9 A-10) season that ended in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament under first-year head coach Tony Skinn.

It's leading scorer, Keyshawn Hall, entered the transfer portal this offseason and committed to UCF but did land a commitment from Auburn transfer K.D. Johnson, a former 4-star and Top-100 recruit this offseason.

He averaged 7.1 points per game last season with the Tigers and began his career at Georgia where is posted 13.5 points per contest as freshman.

The Patriots haven't made the NCAA Tournament since the departure of head coach Jim Larranaga for Miami in 2011. It's NCAA Tournament berth in 2011 was memorable but the program is best known for its Cinderella run to the Final Four in 2006.

Duke's matchup against Kentucky in the Champions Classic is November 12 and its meeting in Tucson against Arizona is November 21. The dates for its other games have yet to be determined but the showdown between the Blue Devils and Jayhawks in Las Vegas is expected to be shortly after that, prior to Thanksgiving.

Assuming none of the previously reported games fall through, Duke would have four more non-conference games to add to its schedule.