Duke has won its past seven games and is No. 1, but where can Blue Devils improve?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Duke emphasizes rebounding and crashing to create extra possessions.
- Coaches urge tighter defense, cutting uncontested shots and rotations.
- Offense is inside-out; Boozer likely playing his final home game at Cameron.
Can Duke basketball get better?
And if so, where?
The Blue Devils are ranked No. 1 in the polls. They vanquished Michigan, which was No. 1 and said by some college observers to be reaching unbeatable status. After dismantling N.C. State, 93-64, Monday at Lenovo Center, the Devils have clinched the ACC’s regular-season title for a second straight season.
N.C. State coach Will Wade said the Pack was fighting over its “weight class” Monday, and called Duke an “elite” team. Out of desperation, Wade said, the Wolfpack went zone from the start. That was somewhat effective for about the first eight minutes.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer likes to say — joke? — that he’s a worrier who’s always concerned about the next game, what could be awaiting and what could go wrong.
Or, how to improve when all is going so well.
Scheyer and the players call it “winning the margins.” They are the aspects of their play not always noticed when Cam Boozer is muscling inside for baskets, Isaiah Evans is raining 3’s or Duke displaying its shutdown defense.
“Rebounding and crashing has been a big thing for us,” Scheyer said. “That has been a big point of emphasis. It’s easy to track the rebounding difference in the game. We track crashing. Like how well are we doing it, and consistently are we in doing that.”
In the game against the Wolfpack, Evans missed a 3-pointer, but Caleb Foster crashed in for the offensive rebound and found Dame Sarr open for a corner 3 that Sarr nailed.
Against Michigan, the Blue Devils had a 41-28 rebounding advantage in the 68-63 win in Washington, D.C. No team had beaten the Wolverines on the boards like that this season.
“And we took a step forward in the Notre Dame game from what we did in the Michigan game,” Scheyer said.
The Devils had 14 offensive rebounds against the Irish in a 100-56 runaway. Despite the 44-point win, the Devils took a step forward, the coaching staff believed.
“Again, you’re talking about three or four or five more possessions in a game,” Scheyer said.
The Blue Devils stole a possession in the Notre Dame game when freshman Nikolas Khamenia was short on a free throw and Cam Boozer swatted the ball toward the Duke bench. Khamenia raced over and saved the ball from going out of bounds, almost tumbling into the bench, and passed it to Maliq Brown, who then found Khamenia breaking through the lane for a layup.
So much for the offense, which is built around impressive inside/outside play and proper spacing. Defensively, the Blue Devils have gotten progressively better since a run of substandard — by Duke’s standards — ACC games.
“For me there’s always more margin on the defensive end where one more rotation, moving as the ball moves, being in position … Just the details of building our habits,” Scheyer said.
“There’s five uncontested shots we gave up, can we make it three next game? Make it where we start to clean things up.”
Since losing at UNC, Duke has not allowed more than 64 points in winning the last seven games leading into a much anticipated matchup Saturday against UNC at Cameron Indoor Stadium. That’s cleaning up nicely.
Boozer had two ugly red scratches on his right arm Monday after the State game — a battle wound, more or less. He shook it off. You go in the paint and things happen.
“The Wolfpack got me,” he said, grinning. “They’ve got long claws.”
What has been unsaid for the most part but will be said this week is that Cam Boozer likely will be playing his final game at Cameron. Then, it’s off the NBA.
“Every game means more,” Boozer said this week. “We’re playing for something more right now.”
Asked if Duke was on a “heater,” Boozer smiled.
“Oh, of course. I definitely feel that way,” he said.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 6:05 AM with the headline "Duke has won its past seven games and is No. 1, but where can Blue Devils improve?."
