Just what the Proctor Ordered: Tyrese Impresses as Duke downs Delaware

(Ben McKeown AP Photo)

The Duke Blue Devils hosted the Delaware Blue Hens at Cameron Indoor Arena on Friday night and despite the debut of highly touted recruit Dariq Whitehead it was Tyrese Proctor who led the way for the Devils.

The Blue Devils played with their food for a while, extending their first half lead to as many as 15 before letting the Hens strut back into the game and entered the locker room with just a 6 point lead. An 18-2 run early in the second half, spurred on by a Jacob Grandison corner three, broke the game open and the Devils would ultimately coast to a 92-58 victory.

Proctor was clearly the best player on the floor in the 1st half. He hit Dereck Lively for a beautiful alley oop feed to open the scoring for the Blue Devils but didn't stop there. He finished the half with 9 points, 7 boards and 3 including an impressive crossover to step back jumper sequence that brought the crowd to their feet.

Proctor being trusted with a more prominent ball handling role gives the Devils another wrinkle to their offense and will allow Jeremy Roach some time to rest (played 39:37 in the Kansas game). It also gives Roach an opportunity to take on more of a scoring role rather than focusing so much on getting everyone else involved (ala Caleb Love for UNC last season).

Kyle Filipowski was solid again adding 18 points, including 11 in the second half. "Flip" continues to show flashes of tremendous post foot work but is still struggling a little bit with his consistency from three point range. If/when his open threes start to fall watch out! As we've seen so far this season he should get plenty of open looks trailing on the fast break.

As previously mentioned it was the debut of Dariq Whitehead as well tonight. Although he shot just 3-11 in 15 minutes, Whitehead looked explosive and had a couple of nice moments including a late step back jumper. It will take a few games to get him back at full strength but the promise is very clearly there.

Dereck Lively made his first start but was still limited to just 15 minutes, partially due to foul trouble.

I asked Lively, who is still recovering from a calf injury, after the game about when he expects to see full-time starting minutes.

"I really think I’m there. We’re just taking my time, playing the minutes given to me, that get to me, making sure I’m following the process.”

Duke hosts Bellarmine on Monday night before heading to Portland for the Phil Knight Legacy event.