Duke basketball’s Jon Scheyer ‘screwed up,’ but it didn’t slow down Khaman Malauch

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DURHAM — Jon Scheyer made a mistake early in Duke basketball’s blowout victory against California on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Just two and a half minutes into the game, Scheyer had a quick-trigger substitution, replacing starting center Khaman Maluach with sixth man Maliq Brown.

“I screwed up,” Scheyer said after the game. “I thought he got a second foul and I subbed him right away.”

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To Scheyer’s credit, foul trouble has been a troubling trend for Malauch in three of the last six games. During that stretch, Maluach has logged four fouls, fouling out in Duke’s loss at Clemson. But that physicality and powerful presence as a rim protector and versatile defender are among Maluach’s best traits.

“Khaman, he’s as good as I’ve seen as a freshman of playing physical and knowing how to use his body. Usually, that takes the longest for freshmen big guys. He naturally, he was coming in in the summer and just hitting guys, ‘cause he likes contact. So, it starts there,” Scheyer said.

“Obviously, he has to learn how to do that and go straight up and go vertical. He’s a student of the game, so he’s been able to grow as the season’s gone along with his defense, with his switching, with blitzing ball screens. I don’t think his versatility gets talked about enough on that end. It’s because of him being so smart and such a great worker.”

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The early, accidental benching didn’t slow down Duke’s 7-foot-2 center. Learning from his recent experience against the Tigers, Maluach logged a bounce-back effort for the third-ranked Blue Devils (21-3, 13-1 ACC) against the Golden Bears (12-13, 5-9).

“I’ve just worked on that, learning from…

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Author : The Fayetteville Observer

Publish date : 2025-02-13 14:11:00

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