Duke Basketball: Blue Devils Ready to 'Take the Next Step Together'

Four weeks of undeniable Duke basketball strides amount to a more upbeat Jon Scheyer.

Photo credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Entering Saturday's 106-69 blowout home win over unranked Queens, Duke basketball hadn't score 60 points in any half since December 2021. And the program hadn't scored 106 points or more in a game since a month before then.

That potent 2021-22 squad reached the Final Four in the farewell year of Mike Krzyzewski's legendary coaching career.

Now, second-year head coach Jon Scheyer's No. 16 Blue Devils (9-3, 0-1 ACC) have Tyrese Proctor back in the rotation following his four-week recovery from the sprained ankle he sustained in the team's most recent loss.

Yes, that disappointing defeat at the hands of Georgia Tech feels like eons ago. Duke enjoys a four-game winning streak, including the win over then-No. 10 Baylor on Dec. 20, as the 36-year-old Scheyer prepares his players for their remaining 19-game ACC slate.

In Scheyer's opening statement to the media following the Blue Devils' high-scoring, brilliant-assisting, aggressive-defending Saturday display, the reigning ACC title orchestrator came across as an enthused leader witnessing his group's increasingly recognizable big-time potential yet recognizing the need for continued refinement:

“I thought it was a good game for us, coming back from Christmas break. We wanted to really carry the momentum that we had before the break. Obviously, there's always a lot of things you want to work on. But for us today, I thought we came out with a strong start. I thought the starting group was aggressive and did a good job.

"And then, throughout the half, we were working through some rust a little bit and some shape up. But give [the Royals] credit. We knew coming in with Queens, they're not afraid. They can shoot and make a lot of threes. They're going to continue to play hard no matter what the score was.

"I love the way we shared the ball. We only had seven assists in the first half — 17 in the second half.

40 buckets from the win today over Queens pic.twitter.com/RVz1uap7yh

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) December 31, 2023

"I thought our activity on defense picked up as the game went along. I think that the steals reflect that, some of the blocked shots. For us, we have a lot to clean up.

"Getting Tyrese back out there is a great thing. We were hoping to play him about 15 minutes in this game, and he played a couple more. I thought he played really efficiently, played under control and gave us just Tyrese.

"Obviously, starting ACC play back up again, we're excited for Tuesday. But this game was important for us to take the next step together."

NEXT GAME: at home versus unranked Syracuse (10-3, 1-1 ACC), 9 p.m. ET Tuesday (ESPN)

STREAM: fuboTV (start your free trial)

Five-Star Wing Visits Duke Again for Win Over Queens

Stay tuned to Blue Devil Country on SI.com for more Duke basketball news.