MBB: Duke 93, NC State 64 (March 2, 2026) Postgame Thread

Kedsy said:
Isaiah Evans is now shooting 39.1% from three in calendar 2026.
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roywhite said:
And his shot selection is visibly improved.

I'd attribute that to good coaching and a good player like Evans willing to take coaching.
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And all of the above while seeing his shot volume increase. Evans has taken 7.5 attempts per game in 2026, which is up from his season average of 7.1. And over the last 7 games, he has attempted even a bit more at 7.6 per game.

Scheyer talked earlier this year about needing to help Evans out by getting him better looks. Kudos to the coaches for making that happen in spades. And of course kudos to Evans for making it pay off.
 
Great game from Sarr. There was a point this season where I cringed before every shot he took, but man has he been great from the corner 3 spot lately. I'm selfishly a little torn with how well he's been playing. It's gone from "he has such great potential, but i bet he comes back next season" to "he's a lockdown defender with a great 3pt shot. if he can learn to finish through contact at the rim there's no way he's not a first rounder."
 
DukeHoops305 said:
Honestly extremely satisfying to humble Will Wade. I can’t be the only one who thought he was extremely cocky in his pre-season interviews.
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WW was extremely cocky and imo downright disrespectful. He repeatedly spoke about a reckoning coming to the ACC. After being here for 5 minutes, apparently he could predict changes coming to a league that’s been around for 70 years.

Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised by how humble he seemed in last night’s press conference. His two players not so much.
 
Kjeffrey said:
WW was extremely cocky and imo downright disrespectful. He repeatedly spoke about a reckoning coming to the ACC. After being here for 5 minutes, apparently he could predict changes coming to a league that’s been around for 70 years.

Having said that, I was pleasantly surprised by how humble he seemed in last night’s press conference. His two players not so much.
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Yeah my hope is he came in with a lot of cockiness to rally the fanbase and help ticket sales/recruiting. His postgame comments were very good. We’ll see how he acts when he loses a tight one…
 
I've been in the house for our last two games at NC State, plus the two NCAAT games there last year. Maybe I'm the good luck charm. Or maybe it's just not a house of horrors anymore.

  • What makes this team special is the ability to problem-solve in real time. Scouts have raved about that with Cam, and how he is able to solve different coverages. But give Jon a ton of credit for his ability to adjust. I'm not sure we expected to face a zone, but we solved it. After jacking some 3s early and occasionally getting sped up in transition, we settled down and started playing inside-out.
  • The adjustments were even better on defense. In the pregame, I speculated on how much Jon would adjust to State's 3-point happy offense. We honestly looked pretty rough in the early going. State was getting wide open 3s. Jon adjusted, and we started switching on defense. When we did that, their 3s dried up, and they had nothing. The ability to switch defenses and adjust to matchups is going to be huge in the Tournament.
  • Duke attempted 58 field goals last night. Per Torvik's definition, 31 came at the rim. 28 came from 3. Duke did not attempt a single midrange shot.
  • I thought Will Wade's comments were interesting. He talked about Duke being an all-around impressive operation, down to little details like players sprinting to the scorer's table. Jon's focus on culture and attention to detail is seriously impressive.
 
jv001 said:
Yes, very good points. Once we got Cam the ball in the middle of the zone it was game, set, match. Another thing that has happened is Caleb is now the point-guard. The offense runs smoother when he's at the point. Two great assist games in a row. Cayden is not a bad option but he's not as good a defender as Caleb. Coach Scheyer is giving Cayden playing time which gives Caleb some rest after playing so hard on defense. Darren has played pretty well too. He's making some open 3s now and he's not great on defense, but he is playable.

GoDuke!
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For a while this season Caleb and Cayden seemed to be on a par especially in winning time. Since Clemson, Caleb seems to be a clear No. 1 option at point. Not coincidentally, our recent surge started with Clemson. Cayden has a lot to bring to the table and is going to a top quality old-school point, IMO.
 
CDu said:
And all of the above while seeing his shot volume increase. Evans has taken 7.5 attempts per game in 2026, which is up from his season average of 7.1. And over the last 7 games, he has attempted even a bit more at 7.6 per game.

Scheyer talked earlier this year about needing to help Evans out by getting him better looks. Kudos to the coaches for making that happen in spades. And of course kudos to Evans for making it pay off.
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He simply looks more comfortable, relaxed when taking shots.
 
Dr. Maturin said:
  • What makes this team special is the ability to problem-solve in real time. Scouts have raved about that with Cam, and how he is able to solve different coverages. But give Jon a ton of credit for his ability to adjust. I'm not sure we expected to face a zone, but we solved it. After jacking some 3s early and occasionally getting sped up in transition, we settled down and started playing inside-out.
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Speaking of solving the zone. Duke scored on 13 straight possessions from the 5:00 mark of the first half through about the 16:00 mark in the second half.
 
jay040 said:
Great game from Sarr. There was a point this season where I cringed before every shot he took, but man has he been great from the corner 3 spot lately. I'm selfishly a little torn with how well he's been playing. It's gone from "he has such great potential, but i bet he comes back next season" to "he's a lockdown defender with a great 3pt shot. if he can learn to finish through contact at the rim there's no way he's not a first rounder."
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I think this was the game that solidified in my mind that he's not coming back. There's no way an NBA scout watches his performance at the moment and doesn't want him - his game fits anywhere.
 
ratamero said:
I think this was the game that solidified in my mind that he's not coming back. There's no way an NBA scout watches his performance at the moment and doesn't want him - his game fits anywhere.
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He's such a weird case. Defensively, he's elite. That skill set will play. Offensively... he's one of the worst ballhandling wings I've seen at Duke in as far back as I can remember. Like, if he dribbles anywhere near a defender, I fear he's losing the ball. And he can't play through contact. When he's making 3s, it's obvious his NBA fit. But even there, it's been an adventure from game to game.

If a team feels confident they can hone in on his 3pt shooting consistency quickly, then yeah he's got a clear NBA role as a "3 and D" wing. But if he remains an unreliable shooter along with his complete absence of ballhandling ability or finishing in the lane, I'm not sure how playable his defense is.

I'm sure someone will draft him, but it feels like a 2nd round pick is most likely unless he continues to show a more consistently usable 3pt shot.
 
CDu said:
He's such a weird case. Defensively, he's elite. That skill set will play. Offensively... he's one of the worst ballhandling wings I've seen at Duke in as far back as I can remember. Like, if he dribbles anywhere near a defender, I fear he's losing the ball. And he can't play through contact. When he's making 3s, it's obvious his NBA fit. But even there, it's been an adventure from game to game.

If a team feels confident they can hone in on his 3pt shooting consistency quickly, then yeah he's got a clear NBA role as a "3 and D" wing. But if he remains an unreliable shooter along with his complete absence of ballhandling ability or finishing in the lane, I'm not sure how playable his defense is.

I'm sure someone will draft him, but it feels like a 2nd round pick is most likely unless he continues to show a more consistently usable 3pt shot.
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Yes, Vecenie's last mock draft doesn't have Sarr in the top 30. Of course, that was before last night.
 
Phredd3 said:
And man, was the silence deafening in the second half, or what? This team took the crowd out of it, both figuratively and literally. As my lovely wife commented in the second half, "The stadium is slowly turning red," as the White-Out turned into empty seats.
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The camera shot of the fans chuckling at the wedgie FT was great.

Maliq did reward the crowd with some chik-fil-a though. They woke up for that.
 
MChambers said:
Yes, Vecenie's last mock draft doesn't have Sarr in the top 30. Of course, that was before last night.
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Yeah, might be sort of like the drafting of high school pitchers. Some scouts will say "I saw him throw a 95mph pitch", and push for a pick because "once you've seen it, you know it's in there." In that respect, what we saw last night could convince someone to draft him and hope they can figure out how to make that guy show up more consistently. And what we saw last night would be a 1st round pick type of player. If he repeats anything close to what he did last night more consistently moving forward, then he's definitely going to get drafted, and quite possibly in the 1st round. If he continues to throw in stretches like from Stanford through BC (0-10 from 3, 8 turnovers), he'd likely still be a second-rounder but it gets hard to see a team taking him in the 1st round.
 
Dr. Maturin said:
I've been in the house for our last two games at NC State, plus the two NCAAT games there last year. Maybe I'm the good luck charm. Or maybe it's just not a house of horrors anymore.

  • What makes this team special is the ability to problem-solve in real time. Scouts have raved about that with Cam, and how he is able to solve different coverages. But give Jon a ton of credit for his ability to adjust. I'm not sure we expected to face a zone, but we solved it. After jacking some 3s early and occasionally getting sped up in transition, we settled down and started playing inside-out.
  • The adjustments were even better on defense. In the pregame, I speculated on how much Jon would adjust to State's 3-point happy offense. We honestly looked pretty rough in the early going. State was getting wide open 3s. Jon adjusted, and we started switching on defense. When we did that, their 3s dried up, and they had nothing. The ability to switch defenses and adjust to matchups is going to be huge in the Tournament.
  • Duke attempted 58 field goals last night. Per Torvik's definition, 31 came at the rim. 28 came from 3. Duke did not attempt a single midrange shot.
  • I thought Will Wade's comments were interesting. He talked about Duke being an all-around impressive operation, down to little details like players sprinting to the scorer's table. Jon's focus on culture and attention to detail is seriously impressive.
Click to expand...
Can’t help to wonder if this year’s more experienced CJS and staff had been coaching last year’s team how different a season it could have been.
 
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