brevity
Member
At long last, the (Blue) Devil Incarnate (Word) game. Whoever scheduled this game might have a sense of wordplay. This is a quick turnaround for Duke, tipping off about 48 hours after completing Sunday's game in Louisville. Great preparation for March, at the very least. The game takes place Tuesday evening in Cameron, airing on the ACC Network (streaming link, listen, live stats).
The University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals are based out of San Antonio and play in the Southland Conference, a 12-team league located entirely in Texas and Louisiana. They are the first Southland team to visit Cameron Indoor Stadium since (mumbling) StephenFAustinfiveyearsago.
Shane Heirman (bio) is basically a year behind Jon Scheyer, both as a former player (Tulsa class of 2011) and as a head coach (he's in his second season). He's also a Chicagoan. Coach Heirman was previously an assistant at Central Michigan and DePaul, but most of his NBA connections came before that, when he was the head coach at La Lumiere, the perennially powerful Indiana prep school. In a recent video profile, he talks about his current team:
UIW was picked to finish 7th in the Southland preseason poll. They are 5-4 so far, with computer rankings of #254 (NET), #280 (EvanMiya), #283 (T-Rank), and #288 (KenPom). Duke is their lone power conference opponent this season, and Southland favorite McNeese State is the only other top 100 team they are likely to face. Here's a quick breakdown of their roster, now with names and jersey numbers in bold:
PROBABLE STARTERS
6-4 grad guard Davion Bailey #5 (17.7 pts, 2.9 reb, 1.2 ast, 1.1 stl)
6-3 grad guard Jalin Anderson #1 (14.7 pts, 3.6 reb, 6.4 ast, 1.1 stl)
6-5 senior forward Dylan Hayman #2 (14.3 pts, 4.7 reb, 1.6 ast, 1.1 stl)
6-7 sophomore wing Jordan Pyke #7 (11.9 pts, 5.8 reb, 2.1 ast, 1.1 stl)
6-9 freshman post Jayden Williams #4 (6.6 pts, 5.7 reb, 2.1 ast, 1.3 stl, 1.7 blk)
TOP RESERVES
6-9 fifth-year post Shon Robinson #3 (7.0 pts, 2.5 reb, 0.2 ast, 1.2 blk)
6-1 redshirt freshman guard Harrison Reede #6 (3.0 pts, 0.0 reb, 0.1 ast)
6-7 sophomore wing Mintautas Mockus #12 (2.3 pts, 1.8 reb, 0.3 ast)
6-8 sophomore forward Marcus Glover #8 (1.8 pts, 3.2 reb, 0.2 ast)
6-8 senior forward Lamin Sabally #9 (3.7 pts, 3.7 reb, 1.0 ast)
5-10 sophomore guard TJ Ford Jr #11 (0.8 pts, 0.2 reb, 0.4 ast)
BENCH PLAYERS
6-9 sophomore center Josh Akpovwa #35 (1.3 pts, 1.2 reb, 0.3 ast)
6-1 freshman guard Kobi Bowles #14 (1.0 pts, 0.4 reb, 0.4 ast)
6-6 freshman guard Ryan Van Eyck #0 (0.5 pts, 0.5 reb, 0.0 ast)
6-1 junior guard Amani Drummond #99 (0.0 pts, 0.0 reb, 0.0 ast)
6-4 freshman guard Isaiah Kortas #15
A few months ago, when the game was first announced in the 2024-2025 Schedule Intel thread, I looked into them and wrote the following:
The Incarnate Word 2024-25 roster has a couple of familiar names, even if I don't know the players personally. 5-11 sophomore guard TJ Ford Jr is the son of TJ Ford, who played for Texas from 2001-2003 and in the NBA until 2012. Then there's 6-8 senior forward Lamin Sabally, who has sisters Satou and Nyara in the WNBA and on the German national team.
There are also a pair of Duke connections. 6-7 sophomore wing Mintautas Mockus played for Johnny Dawkins and UCF last season, while 6-9 grad forward Shon Robinson played for Nate James and Austin Peay in 2022-2023.
So that's a start. In an interesting twist, leading scorers Davion Bailey and Jalin Anderson formed a strong backcourt last season... for Ball State. They both transferred to Incarnate Word in the offseason. Now Bailey leads the Southland in 3-point attempts and makes, and he's converting them at a 42.1 percent rate. Anderson was named to the preseason All-Conference Second Team, and he's averaging 6.4 assists, tops in the league. The pair join Dylan Hayman to form a perimeter that gets heavy playing time; each averages over 33 minutes per game, and Hayman gets almost 35.
Looking at Basketball Reference, the Cardinals have one standout statistic: they rank 4th nationally in 3-point percentage, shooting 42.6 percent as a team. It's not just Bailey; well, it's mostly Bailey, but there are seven other players hitting about 32 percent or better. Compared to Duke, they are a bit more efficient than outside, averaging about 9-of-22 per game, while the Blue Devils are about 11-of-30.
Bart Torvik estimates an 89-55 Duke win.
The University of the Incarnate Word Cardinals are based out of San Antonio and play in the Southland Conference, a 12-team league located entirely in Texas and Louisiana. They are the first Southland team to visit Cameron Indoor Stadium since (mumbling) StephenFAustinfiveyearsago.
Shane Heirman (bio) is basically a year behind Jon Scheyer, both as a former player (Tulsa class of 2011) and as a head coach (he's in his second season). He's also a Chicagoan. Coach Heirman was previously an assistant at Central Michigan and DePaul, but most of his NBA connections came before that, when he was the head coach at La Lumiere, the perennially powerful Indiana prep school. In a recent video profile, he talks about his current team:
UIW was picked to finish 7th in the Southland preseason poll. They are 5-4 so far, with computer rankings of #254 (NET), #280 (EvanMiya), #283 (T-Rank), and #288 (KenPom). Duke is their lone power conference opponent this season, and Southland favorite McNeese State is the only other top 100 team they are likely to face. Here's a quick breakdown of their roster, now with names and jersey numbers in bold:
PROBABLE STARTERS
6-4 grad guard Davion Bailey #5 (17.7 pts, 2.9 reb, 1.2 ast, 1.1 stl)
6-3 grad guard Jalin Anderson #1 (14.7 pts, 3.6 reb, 6.4 ast, 1.1 stl)
6-5 senior forward Dylan Hayman #2 (14.3 pts, 4.7 reb, 1.6 ast, 1.1 stl)
6-7 sophomore wing Jordan Pyke #7 (11.9 pts, 5.8 reb, 2.1 ast, 1.1 stl)
6-9 freshman post Jayden Williams #4 (6.6 pts, 5.7 reb, 2.1 ast, 1.3 stl, 1.7 blk)
TOP RESERVES
6-9 fifth-year post Shon Robinson #3 (7.0 pts, 2.5 reb, 0.2 ast, 1.2 blk)
6-1 redshirt freshman guard Harrison Reede #6 (3.0 pts, 0.0 reb, 0.1 ast)
6-7 sophomore wing Mintautas Mockus #12 (2.3 pts, 1.8 reb, 0.3 ast)
6-8 sophomore forward Marcus Glover #8 (1.8 pts, 3.2 reb, 0.2 ast)
6-8 senior forward Lamin Sabally #9 (3.7 pts, 3.7 reb, 1.0 ast)
5-10 sophomore guard TJ Ford Jr #11 (0.8 pts, 0.2 reb, 0.4 ast)
BENCH PLAYERS
6-9 sophomore center Josh Akpovwa #35 (1.3 pts, 1.2 reb, 0.3 ast)
6-1 freshman guard Kobi Bowles #14 (1.0 pts, 0.4 reb, 0.4 ast)
6-6 freshman guard Ryan Van Eyck #0 (0.5 pts, 0.5 reb, 0.0 ast)
6-1 junior guard Amani Drummond #99 (0.0 pts, 0.0 reb, 0.0 ast)
6-4 freshman guard Isaiah Kortas #15
A few months ago, when the game was first announced in the 2024-2025 Schedule Intel thread, I looked into them and wrote the following:
The Incarnate Word 2024-25 roster has a couple of familiar names, even if I don't know the players personally. 5-11 sophomore guard TJ Ford Jr is the son of TJ Ford, who played for Texas from 2001-2003 and in the NBA until 2012. Then there's 6-8 senior forward Lamin Sabally, who has sisters Satou and Nyara in the WNBA and on the German national team.
There are also a pair of Duke connections. 6-7 sophomore wing Mintautas Mockus played for Johnny Dawkins and UCF last season, while 6-9 grad forward Shon Robinson played for Nate James and Austin Peay in 2022-2023.
So that's a start. In an interesting twist, leading scorers Davion Bailey and Jalin Anderson formed a strong backcourt last season... for Ball State. They both transferred to Incarnate Word in the offseason. Now Bailey leads the Southland in 3-point attempts and makes, and he's converting them at a 42.1 percent rate. Anderson was named to the preseason All-Conference Second Team, and he's averaging 6.4 assists, tops in the league. The pair join Dylan Hayman to form a perimeter that gets heavy playing time; each averages over 33 minutes per game, and Hayman gets almost 35.
Looking at Basketball Reference, the Cardinals have one standout statistic: they rank 4th nationally in 3-point percentage, shooting 42.6 percent as a team. It's not just Bailey; well, it's mostly Bailey, but there are seven other players hitting about 32 percent or better. Compared to Duke, they are a bit more efficient than outside, averaging about 9-of-22 per game, while the Blue Devils are about 11-of-30.
Bart Torvik estimates an 89-55 Duke win.
