MBB: Exhibition vs. UNC Pembroke (11/1, 7pm ET, ACCNX) Pregame & In-Game Thread

[brevity]

After Countdown to Craziness and a closed scrimmage against Villanova, Duke's preseason concludes Wednesday with an exhibition game against UNC Pembroke. It starts at 7pm ET and can be seen on ACCNX, a stream-only channel in the ESPN family, different from the ACC Network.

This post addresses the real questions. I have three.

Who are these guys?

UNC Pembroke is part of the state university system, established by Native Americans in 1887. They have over 5,600 undergraduates and 2,000 graduate students, 12 percent of whom are Native American. Their teams are called the Braves, and they play in Division II.

NCAA.com lists UNC Pembroke 8th in their Division II Preseason Power 10 rankings, published last week:

"The Braves are loaded with experience, which means there are plenty back [who] remember that stunning first-round loss in last year's tournament. Four starters are back, including leading scorers Bradlee Haskell and JaJuan Carr. A trio of transfers that have shown they can score may make this team deeper than last year, which is an impressive statement."

Haskell and Carr are both 6-2 junior guards. The team roster includes a 6-11 junior forward, Amadou Faye, who transferred from Division II Elizabeth City State. Aside from him, they are not particularly tall. But hey, neither is Kentucky at the moment.

The town of Pembroke is located about 45 miles southwest of Fayetteville, and is near the state line, about 20 miles away from the not-at-all-offensive South of the Border attraction on Interstate 95.

What do the Braves look like in action?

See for yourself. They played an exhibition game at Houston on Saturday.

Houston 86, UNC Pembroke 47 (recap, box score, photo gallery, highlights, postgame comments)



From Houston's recap: "Senior guard LJ Cryer made his debut with 21 points, sinking five triples. Joseph Tugler made his collegiate debut as the freshman forward scored 13 points and gathered nine boards off the bench for the Cougars. Senior forward J'Wan Roberts added 11 points and collected eight rebounds and Ja'Vier Francis scored 10 points and added six rebounds to the team's 47-rebound total."

How do I stream the game?

I have a provider (AT&T U-Verse) that carries the ACC Network, so I can watch ACCNX on my desktop computer. The ACCNX direct link to the game is:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...8-3613c9839fa2

If you have the ESPN+ streaming service, the ESPN+ direct link to the game is:
https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...3-017070357d15

You may be able to stream the game on your television. I have no experience with this, but the Countdown to Craziness thread covered this a little bit.

Does anyone know options to watch this. I have YouTube TV. Do I need to add another service to watch ACCNx?

Not another service, but you need the ESPN or WatchESPN app. Sign in to Watch ESPN with your YoutubeTV account credentials and you can watch all ACCNx games.

I installed the ESPN app on my TV.
Then select your media provider (YouTube TV in your case)
this should then unlock ESPN+ for you (I think. At least it works that way for my Hulu + Live TV)

If anyone has further advice, like for Roku or Sling TV, feel free to reply here.

[Billy Dat]

I can't wait to see the '23-'24 Blue Devils against another team.

The primary curiosities:
-Who is the fifth starter assuming Roach, Proctor, Mitchell and Flip all start?
-After the 5th starter, what's the rotation?
-Will Blue/White Reeves fade back into obscurity?
-Will Scheyer's interest in "playing fast" be gone by the end of the first half?

[Papa John]

I can't wait to see the '23-'24 Blue Devils against another team.

The primary curiosities:
-Who is the fifth starter assuming Roach, Proctor, Mitchell and Flip all start?
-After the 5th starter, what's the rotation?
-Will Blue/White Reeves fade back into obscurity?
-Will Scheyer's interest in "playing fast" be gone by the end of the first half?

My predictions:
- McCain will be the 5th starter
- 'Old Man' Young will be first off the bench, then Stewart with Foster, Blakes, Schutt and Power peppered in behind them depending on who needs a blow
- Yes
- No

[CameronDuke]

Looking forward like others to seeing Duke take the floor against someone else. I will definitely be watching this game. I believe lash year the one exhibition game was against Fayetteville State.

Houston (who UNC-Pembroke just played) is preseason #7 FWIW.

I have been near the campus in nearby Lumberton, NC (right off I-95).

[brevity]

GoDuke.com: No. 2 Duke Welcomes UNC Pembroke in Exhibition

Wednesday's opponent, UNC Pembroke, is coming off a 26-4 campaign in 2022-23, including an 18-2 record in conference play. Bradlee Haskell led the Braves in scoring last season, averaging 13.2 points per game and scoring in double figures in 24 of 30 games.

This GoDuke page also includes links to watch or listen to the game, as well as live stats, PDF notes, and a guide to attending the game in Cameron.

Fayetteville Observer: What channel is Duke basketball vs UNC Pembroke on today? Time, TV schedule

TV: Streaming only on ACC Network Extra

Streaming: ESPN+, FUBO (free trial), Sling TV

ACC Network Extra (ACCNX) is a streaming-only channel exclusive to ESPN.com and ESPN apps. It requires a cable subscription or live TV streaming option. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to potential subscribers. Duke vs. UNCP is the Blue Devils’ only game scheduled to be on ACC Network Extra.

UNCP, a Division II program, is 53-8 over the last two seasons under head coach Drew Richards, with back-to-back championships in the Conference Carolinas and consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances.

[Indoor66]

I have Comcast (Xfinity) and I get the game on the ESPN App ("Watch" button).

[DavidBenAkiva]

My predictions:
- McCain will be the 5th starter
- 'Old Man' Young will be first off the bench, then Stewart with Foster, Blakes, Schutt and Power peppered in behind them depending on who needs a blow
- Yes
- No

Papa John is correct! The game notes for the exhibition tonight are on the GoDuke.com website. They list Jared McCain as a probable starter along with the familiar faces (how nice is it to have familiar faces in the starting lineup in early November?) of Jeremy Roach, Tyrese Proctor, Mark Mitchell, and Kyle Filipowski.

https://goduke.com/documents/2023/10..._11-01-23_.pdf

[UrinalCake]

The game notes on goduke.com list McCain as the fifth starter alongside the four returnees. This has been one of the biggest sources of debate, as at times Foster has looked to be the better of the two freshman guards, at least based off of uncut (cut) highlight clips. But it makes sense that McCain would get the nod, with Foster being the first guard off the bench. I suspect that UNC Pembroke is not a big team, so the notion of starting Young to rely on experience wouldn't make sense (though it might against Arizona).

(ETA: DBA beat me to it)

[DavidBenAkiva]

The game notes on goduke.com list McCain as the fifth starter alongside the four returnees. This has been one of the biggest sources of debate, as at times Foster has looked to be the better of the two freshman guards, at least based off of uncut (cut) highlight clips. But it makes sense that McCain would get the nod, with Foster being the first guard off the bench. I suspect that UNC Pembroke is not a big team, so the notion of starting Young to rely on experience wouldn't make sense (though it might against Arizona).

(ETA: DBA beat me to it)

I don't think Arizona is all that big outside of Ballo and some of the younger bench players. Their starting PF is projected to be 6'7" 210 lb Keshad Johnson. The other projected starters are 6'2" SO Kylan Boswell, 6'4" SR Caleb Love, and 6'5" SR Pelle Larsson. Running a 3-guard lineup is super common in college basketball. I don't think Duke will be smaller than most teams. Having Ryan Young and Christian Reeves on the bench is more size than almost any team can throw out there.

[DavidBenAkiva]

A few things that I'll be thinking about during the exhibition tonight:

• What does the spacing look like with Filipowski as the 5?
• Is the team going to play a faster tempo than last season?
• How much of a jump are we going to see from the sophomores relative to their freshmen season?
• Can this team shoot the ball from 3?
• What does the interior defense look like (might be hard to tell against the opponent)?
• What can we expect to see out of the reserves, including Blakes, Young, Schutt, Reeves, and the freshmen?

[scottdude8]

Main thing I care about: this should be the last game I have to watch using a VPN before my move back south next month!

[AGDukesky]

A few things that I'll be thinking about during the exhibition tonight:

• What does the spacing look like with Filipowski as the 5?
• Is the team going to play a faster tempo than last season?
• How much of a jump are we going to see from the sophomores relative to their freshmen season?
• Can this team shoot the ball from 3?
• What does the interior defense look like (might be hard to tell against the opponent)?
• What can we expect to see out of the reserves, including Blakes, Young, Schutt, Reeves, and the freshmen?

Along with the interior defense, I’m curious how well we defend the perimeter especially against smaller teams. Last season Lively’s presence made up for any deficiencies there.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I'd like to see us either:

- get out and run on break opportunities and also hit from distance
- bang underneath and not look "small," regards of height

Ideally both.

Of course, it will be hard to gauge these things against UNC-Pembroke, but I'll take what I can get, one week before actual competition.

I'm excited!

[azzefkram]

All I know is I am going to see semi-real Duke basketball tonight and real Duke basketball in less than a week. Hooray!

[Music man55]

I’m curious to see if we will be the outside shooting sharpshooters we think we will be. Also, I hope this edition of the Bluedevils will play up tempo and run opponents out of the gym! Getting excited about this team!

[chrishoke]

For me, it's all about our defense. I know these guys can and will score.

[KKDL19]

i'm not so concerned about who ever the starting 5 are but what I want to see is the production of the bench and how Duke uses the bench in rotation.

[MChambers]

A few things that I'll be thinking about during the exhibition tonight:

• What does the spacing look like with Filipowski as the 5?
• Is the team going to play a faster tempo than last season?
• How much of a jump are we going to see from the sophomores relative to their freshmen season?
• Can this team shoot the ball from 3?
• What does the interior defense look like (might be hard to tell against the opponent)?
• What can we expect to see out of the reserves, including Blakes, Young, Schutt, Reeves, and the freshmen?

How well do we pressure the ball? Can we take the other team out of its offense?
How well do Power and Stewart defend, especially when switched onto guards?

[Phredd3]

This is UNC-Pembroke, DII. I'm not sure we're going to learn a ton from it, honestly. I hope not, anyway.

[gep]

This is UNC-Pembroke, DII. I'm not sure we're going to learn a ton from it, honestly. I hope not, anyway.

As Coach Lucas briefly mentioned on the Brotherhood podcast, they may have learned a bit more from that "secret scrimmage" than they will from this game. But as Coach Lucas and Ryan said, it's real helpful to bang against someone else... someone they don't know their tendencies, etc. So from that respect, the players may "learn" something.