Duke basketball responds. Observations from lopsided win at Cameron Indoor.

DURHAM, N.C. — Somebody was going to pay for Duke’s loss to Michigan State.

Next on the Blue Devils’ schedule was … SIU-Edwardsville.

Poor SIU-Edwardsville, most would agree.

The No. 2 Blue Devils responded as most expected, with a one-sided victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was a game with a lot of ragged edges, but Duke took a 90-47 win as they prepared for their next big test — Tuesday against No. 3 Illinois.

For a few days after the Michigan State game, the Blue Devils have heard how they were punked and out-toughed by the Spartans in the Tuesday game in Chicago. Is Duke overrated? A lot of social media chatter had it that way the past few days.

But the Blue Devils (3-1) got the job done Friday against an Ohio Valley Conference team that was hammered by 38 points at Missouri earlier in the week.

The Blue Devils, using full-court pressure defensively to be disruptive, used a few good spurts — one an 11-0 run — to take a 43-20 halftime lead. That resulted in a rough-and-tumble second half that had the Cougars slapping away and banging bodies and piling up fouls.

Sophomore Cayden Boozer did what his twin brother did so often last season — notch a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. He had 11 points and 12 assists in Duke’s win over Coastal Carolina.

One sequence in the second half had Duke freshman Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje make a quick drive from the top of the key for a one-hand slam. Moments later, he lost the ball near midcourt that resulted in two points the other way. Next time down, Boumtje Boumtje knocked down a 3-pointer from the key and was blowing a kiss to the crowd.

Boumtje Boumtje had 11 points and nine rebounds for the Devils.

So it went for the Blue Devils as coach Jon Scheyer constantly rotated players in and out and six players finished in double figures.

Freshman Cameron Williams, recovered from a virus that had him lose 14 pounds, got a longer look this night and should get more minutes as the season moves along.

Observations from the game:

Boumtje Boumtje still learning

There are times during games when the Duke coaching staff will pull a player aside for a teaching moment during a break in play.

Boumtje Boumtje had one in the last game at Cameron, against Coastal Carolina, He had another Friday in the second half, as Scheyer and assistant coach Chris Carrawell had a few instructive words during an early media break. Not loud or angry, but instructive.

Boumtje Boumtje, who looked a bit lost in the Michigan State game, was more assertive Friday. A drive and big jam in the second half by the 7-2 freshman had the Crazies at full throat.

But Boumtje Boumtje also had the ball stolen from him by SIUE’s Gianni Cobb as he dribbled up court soon after the jam. When he did not immediately sprint back on defense to chase Cobb, who had a layup, Carrawell was up off the bench quickly.

Next timeout, it was time to talk.

Scheyer will remain patient, confident Boumtje Boumtje’s game will mature as the year progresses.

Blue Devils have ragged start

If Duke was looking for a sharp start Friday, the Devils didn’t get it.

The Blue Devils fell behind Michigan State 11-2 in the early going Tuesday and never recovered. They were playing catchup all game and the tone of the game had been set.

Duke’s start Friday had John Blackwell and Boumtje Boumtje both falling down on the defensive end, then Ngongba losing the ball out of bounds for a turnover.

Then came another Duke turnover as Ngongba tried to get off a shot low, then a badly bricked 3-pointer by Boozer from the corner.

By the first media timeout, Duke had missed eight of its 10 shots and SIUE was 1 for 6. It was that ragged and did not smooth out a lot for either team in the opening half as Duke took a 43-20 lead.

The Devils ran their actions with more precision in the second half, with better spacing and ball movement,

Duke defense stifled the Cougars

SIU-Edwardsville has one basic offensive problem: consistently shooting the ball.

That’s never a good thing and even worse when playing a team like Duke. The Blue Devils decided to make it as tough as possible on the Cougars, extending the defensive pressure fullcourt.

SIUE did its best to milk possessions and run clock but that strategy doesn’t work when the shots at the end of the shot clock are bad ones or blocked ones.

Ngongba had three blocks in the opening half as the Cougars tested Duke in the paint at times. The Devils, staying aggressive also had seven first-half steals and limited the Cougars to 31% shooting from the field.

Why schedule SIUE?

Scheduling SIU-Edwardsville makes sense for Duke on one hand: a game squeezed in between the Michigan State matchup in Chicago and the home game Tuesday against Illinois.

But SIUE? How did that come about?

In truth, it was years in the making. SIUE coach Brian Barone is the son of the late Tony Barone, who played at Duke under Vic Bubas in the 1960s and spent many years in coaching, including a stop as an assistant at Duke.

Barone made contact with a Duke staff member a couple of years back and asked about getting in a game at Cameron. The Devils, to their credit, agreed to a November game in the 2026-27 season.

In a letter to his fans posted online, Barone wrote: “My dad played at Duke 60 years ago, and now look what basketball is giving back to me and SIUE decades later. The opportunity of a lifetime.”

Barone wrote the Cougars and the fans who came with them to Cameron would enjoy and cherish the experience, regardless of the final score.