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Tyrese Proctor and Isaiah Evans have become the X-factors for a Duke team that continues to win big

In a rare February non-conference opportunity, Duke and Illinois met Saturday night inside Madison Square Garden. Both teams had a built-in “bye” in their conference schedule and decided to use the most of it to add an extra quality win opportunity. As seen in the title though, there was only one team that used this opportunity to help itself, as Duke dominated from tip to finish in a 110-67 blowout.

As we stand here on Sunday morning, Duke sits atop the 2024-25 KenPom rankings with an adjusted efficiency of 38.14, currently only behind 1998-99 Duke, who finished with an adjusted efficiency of 43.01 after falling in the national championship game to UConn. Currently at KenPom, Duke’s offense ranks second behind Auburn and fourth behind Tennessee, St. John’s and Houston. The offensive efficiency saw a huge jump last night in the win against Illinois, but it goes to show just how elite both Duke and Auburn have been this season.

Playing in a weakened ACC, Duke hasn’t had many high-profile opportunities as of late, but adding the Quad 1 neutral-site victory last night against a Big Ten opponent will add a boost to the resume. The positives of the weaker schedule can be seen with the increased confidence and efficiency from guys like Tyrese Proctor (12.0 ppg). Proctor, a junior guard who has been waiting for a breakout, is finally in the midst of it, averaging 16.6 ppg over the last seven games, including two 23-point outings against Clemson and Stanford. Proctor finished with 12 points against Illinois, one of seven Blue Devils to reach double-figures in scoring.

With a 110-67 final score, nearly everyone had a good game for Duke, as 11 players scored and 14 appeared in the game. Cooper Flagg (19.5 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 4.0 apg) is the current National Player of the Year favorite, and the freshman has continued to put on a show as of late, as he’s done all-year long. Flagg finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, impacting the game in every way possible as he often does. Even with the face of this team being an 18-year-old freshman, Duke should be neck-and-neck with Auburn for national title favorites heading into the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Devils defense has been lockdown all season long, allowing the lowest two-point field goal percentage in the country at 42.9%. Duke doesn’t force a lot of turnovers, which is maybe the one spot it could be exploited, but it makes every single shot for its opponents extremely difficult with the mass of length and athleticism in the lineup at all times.

As the regular season winds down and we head into tournament time, the wild card for this Duke team is freshman sharpshooter Isaiah Evans (7.0 ppg, 45.8% 3P). Evans led the way in the win against Illinois with 17 points, hitting three of his five three-point attempts. That’s now back-to-back 17-point outings for Evans as he’s brought himself back into the Duke rotation after barely playing in the month of January. With Evans’ flamethrowing ability (eight games with 3+ made threes, including six made threes against Auburn), there’s no doubt in my mind that he’ll have a game in the NCAA Tournament where he goes absolutely nuclear and is the primary reason Duke advances.

With four games left in the regular season, Duke’s biggest test will come on the final day of the regular season against North Carolina, but all eyes are on what this young squad can accomplish in March.

Other Things to Note:

• Mark Sears goes for 30 in #4 Alabama’s 96-83 win over #17 Kentucky
• 28 points from LJ Cryer leads #5 Houston past injury-riddled #8 Iowa State 68-59
• #6 Tennessee wins on the road against #7 Texas A&M 77-69 behind 30 points from Chaz Lanier
• Oregon pulls off miraculous comeback in overtime win to top #11 Wisconsin 77-73 in Madison
• Controversial foul call late leads to 96-95 win in Tuscon for BYU against #19 Arizona