DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke will eventually get more from its fabulous freshman class but Friday night's 94-49 destruction of Marist was exhibit A of the Blue Devils having more than enough talent to navigate the start of the 2016-17 season.
Grand Canyon gets its chance to challenge Duke on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke played two preseason games without forward Jayson Tatum, who suffered a foot injury in practice more than two weeks ago, and center Harry Giles, who is coming off a surgical procedure in September.
Freshman Frank Jackson scored a team-high 18 points in his college debut Friday, but he came off the bench. So it marked the first Duke game without at least one freshman in the starting lineup in a string of 114 games.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski said he expects Tatum to be on the court for the opener, though Giles won't play in the first weekend.
Then the team announced this week that freshman forward Marques Bolden, who is another member of the heralded recruiting class, will miss at least two games because of a lower-leg ailment after sitting out the second exhibition.
No. 1-ranked Duke manhandled Marist in its 17th consecutive season-opening victory and still has enough experience -- guard Matt Jones and forward Amile Jefferson are senior standouts -- to get the team ready for an eight-game November gauntlet that will include an extended visit to New York next week for the Champions Classic. A date with No. 3 Kansas at Madison Square Garden headlines the Blue Devils' pre-Thanksgiving slate.
Krzyzewski, who also went in the opener without junior Sean Obi, said patience will be critical with the talented freshman trio.
"We can't go through the whole year with lingering injuries," Krzyzewski said. "We're not the team we thought we would be at this time, but we're a good team. To be the team that we hope to be, we've got to be healthy. We're going to really be adamant about taking a longer time than a shorter time, no matter what."
Bolden is likely to be back soon, but Giles might not play before the New Year. He had left knee arthroscopy last month on the same knee in which he suffered a torn ACL as a senior in high school last November. Tatum's sprained foot is another injury Duke fears could become something more if he's back on the court.
"We've got to be careful not to get these guys coming back too soon," he said. "Jayson was doing great. I think we put him in practice a little too soon, and I think that hurt him. We're just going to shut those guys down for a while."
Grand Canyon coach Dan Majerle, the former NBA sharpshooter with the Phoenix Suns, tried to encourage his players to embrace the opportunity to play at Cameron Indoor Stadium when the team arrived this week. The Antelopes practiced in the arena and had a chance to take in the environment before Saturday's dinnertime tipoff (5:30 p.m. ET).
"We've got to be careful not to get these guys coming back too soon," he said. "Jayson was doing great. I think we put him in practice a little too soon, and I think that hurt him. We're just going to shut those guys down for a while."
The Antelopes opened the 2014-15 season against No. 1-ranked Kentucky but is now in its final year of a four-year transition from Division II status. GCU is coming off a 27-7 season in 2015-16, which saw GCU advance to the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Majerle won't have his best team on the court Saturday.
The Antelopes will be without senior point guard DeWayne Russell, who must sit out the first two games of the season due to an NCAA ruling following his transfer from Northern Arizona during the 2013-14 season.
"We've been able to play in some fantastic arenas. We've played at Kentucky, at Louisville, at Indiana, at San Diego State, and now to be able start this off and opening at Duke, again a great place and one of the hallowed places to play, and it will be a great experience for our kids."
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