Duke basketball freshman Isaiah Evans is continuing to put his three-point shooting abilities on display game in and game out. He’s become the Blue Devils’ sharpshooter in a sort of energy role where he comes off the bench with the capability to provide immediate offensive production.
Especially with a Duke team that’s struggled to get going offensively in the first half as of late, Evans’ offensive spark he’s able to bring consistently has become a major boost for the program.
Evans didn’t see extended minutes early, and it was a bit head-scratching to a lot of Duke fans and experts around college basketball why the 5-star recruit wasn’t seeing the floor.
The freshman saw some time in Duke’s buy games early on, but didn’t see the floor at all in the Blue Devils’ losses against Kentucky or Kansas.
It became more confusing why Evans wasn’t playing as the three-point shooting for Duke in some of these big games was an issue. The Blue Devils shot 4-of-24 (16.7%) from three against Kentucky.
Evans finally saw time in Duke’s biggest game of the season at home against #2 Auburn and put his name on the map. After Duke got out to an early deficit with threes not falling, Evans came off the bench and lit up Cameron Indoor by hitting 6 threes on 8 attempts for 18 points in the first half alone.
He was a huge reason the Blue Devils pulled out the victory over the Tigers, and he’s continuing to flourish in his consistent playing time after that game.
Since the Auburn game, Evans is 7-of-14 from the three point line (50%) and is now averaging 8.8 points on 50% shooting from three on the season.
He’s a ridiculous 20-of-40 from beyond the arc on the season and has only taken 4 shots within the three point line.
Evans now leads the ACC in three point percentage at 50%, ahead of Virginia’s Isaac McKneely (45.6%) and California’s Jovan Blacksher Jr. (44%).
Head coach Jon Scheyer really has no choice but to keep giving Evans time on the floor with how consistent he’s been. Scheyer praised Evans early on in the season for earning the right to play and how he continued to bring effort every day in practice even when he wasn’t seeing the floor.
Now emerging as the best shooter in the conference and one of the best shooters in college basketball overall, Evans’ pure shooting ability is exactly what Duke needs to add to the offense, and it looks like his minutes will only continue to rise.
