It turns out the Duke Blue Devils’ dominance isn’t exclusive to the ACC.
Facing what entered as the Blue Devils’ highest-rated opponent in almost three months, Duke did with the Illinois Fighting Illini what it has regularly done with just about everyone it has seen in league play. From the opening possession (a made three from glue guy Sion James, who Illinois had elected to play off of and dare to shoot), the massacre was on, making what was supposed to be a March tune-up of sorts into yet another cruise-control victory for the young Devils. The final damage was 110–67, with Duke leading by as many as 45 in the second half and didn’t see its lead shrink below single digits in the game’s final 30 minutes.
“Just a good, old-fashioned butt-whooping,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.
This old-school late-season nonconference clash was Jon Scheyer’s idea and something he’d like to continue doing in the future. The plan: An NCAA tournament-like game and atmosphere on a neutral court against a high-level opponent, with details all the way down to the game balls used matching what Duke will see next month in the Big Dance. Whether deliberate or not, it also gave the Devils a chance to escape their ACC bubble in what has been a rather miserable season for the league, with just three clear NCAA tournament teams among the 18 schools in the coast-to-coast conference. Putting hurtings on Syracuse (No. 130 on KenPom), Stanford (No. 90) or even on the road at Virginia (No. 102) was one thing; how they’d look against an Illinois team in the top 25 of most metrics that features a pair of likely first-round NBA draft picks would paint a clearer picture.
That picture is quite clear: The 2025 Blue Devils increasingly look like the type of overwhelming team that could storm through the NCAA tournament next month.
This wasn’t nearly the Illinois team that once appeared to be a legitimate Final Four contender. It was beset by astonishingly cold shooting, multiple key injuries and most recently an illness that ravaged the program so badly that Underwood had the team skip the postgame handshake line so as not to infect the Wisconsin Badgers earlier this week. But this dismantling in every facet of the game, even if playing a team that looks more likely bound for an early tournament exit than a deep run, was an illustration of the Duke formula that looks quite potent.
Ball control? A master class, with 28 assists to just six turnovers. The backboards? Duke pummeled an Illinois team known for its prowess on the glass, snatching 16 offensive rebounds that generated 27 second-chance points. Force them to make threes, like Illinois tried to do early? How about 12-of-23 from deep, including six makes off the bench combined from James, Isaiah Evans and Darren Harris. Even its end-of-bench guys got the better of Illinois in garbage time, with 5' 8" Spencer Hubbard drilling a stepback three in the closing moments that delivered the loudest crowd pop of the night at Madison Square Garden.
It should frighten teams most that draw Duke in their region next month that the Blue Devils did all this on a night that sensational freshman Cooper Flagg (who Underwood called the best player in the sport) was at least marginally held in check. The final line looked sharp enough: 16 points, seven rebounds and five assists with a pair of run-out dunks that brought the crowd to life. Flagg did what the presumptive No. 1 pick should do, make the right play, get his teammates involved, score when called upon … but all told, the Illinois plan to slow down Flagg was perhaps the only part of Underwood’s game plan that worked. That Duke doesn’t need a dominant showing from its best player and national player of the year front-runner to take a sledgehammer to a tournament-caliber club adds yet another reason for sleepless nights in what will almost certainly be the East Region of the NCAA tournament bracket.
“Obviously, we know how he can score, but part of his value is the attention that is drawn from him,” Scheyer said. “People are going to play us different ways, and sometimes it’s going to be to try to take away him … he’s happy seeing other guys shine, and that’s part of the amazing value he brings to a team.”
Picking up the scoring slack was fellow freshman Kon Knueppel, a potential top-10 pick come June. Knueppel was as aggressive going to the basket as he has been all season, driving the ball to the rim at will on multiple Illinois defenders. How big is that? Scheyer said postgame that an aggressive Knueppel has the chance to “change [Duke’s] team.”
If anything, the main question raised of Duke after Saturday’s showing would be whether the Blue Devils can keep a level head after demolishing a team of this caliber. For a freshman-laden team to have it feel this easy? A less-mature team might peacock around a bit postgame. But if Flagg’s comments afterward are any indication, this group is as level-headed as a team built with seasoned veterans.
“I don’t know what message [the win] sends,” Flagg said, later referring to it as simply “a good opportunity to get better.” Coach-speak answer? Sure, but also a peek into the mind of this group’s psyche with just weeks to go until Selection Sunday.
So back to ACC play the Blue Devils go, where they’ll be 20-plus-point favorites based on KenPom in their next three games before getting the North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, N.C., to close the regular season. The chances of them getting a serious test before single-elimination hoops start up next month are dwindling. And while Scheyer might have liked to see how his team would respond to some serious game pressure, consider that a good problem to have for what looks like the best team in the sport right now.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Duke’s March Tune-Up Should Frighten NCAA Tournament Field.