Jared McCain ties Zion Williamson's freshman scoring record, breaks three-point record vs. FSU
The Duke Blue Devils (20-5, 11-3 ACC) jumped out to a 10-point lead in the first half against Florida State on Saturday. And they won comfortably, coming away with a 76-67 road win in Tallahassee on the back of one of their standout freshman, Jared McCain, who erupted for 25 points in the first half.
He finished with 35 points which tied for the most points scored in program history by a freshman. McCain also drilled eight three-pointers, the most any player in Blue Devil history has nailed in a single game.
McCain’s historic performance tied Zion Williamson’s 35-point performance against Syracuse in 2019.
He drilled 8 of his 11 three-pointers, hitting 72.7% from deep. McCain also stuffed the stat sheet with four rebounds and four steals. His lethal accuracy from three-point range was a bit of a surprise since he’s only made seven three-pointers in four games.
He scored more than double the number of points of Duke’s second-leading scorer on Saturday, Jeremy Roach. The Fairfax, Virginia native pumped in 17 points with four assists and two rebounds. Kyle Filipowski also finished with eight points and eight rebounds, helping the Blue Devils finish with a 35-22 advantage on the boards. Duke won the game despite being without the services of Tyrese Proctor. They took the lead on a McCain three-pointer with 13:04 remaining in the first half.
As a team, Duke connected on 10 of their 16 three-point attempts (62.5%).
McCain is currently projected to be selected with the No. 27 overall selection in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft. That was in the latest edition of CBS Sports NBA Mock Draft, done by Gary Parrish.
In high school, McCain played for Centennial in Corona, California. In the 2023 cycle, he was rated as the No. 11 overall prospect in the country and a five-star prospect, according to the On3 Industry Rankings.
Florida State’s Jamir Watkins pumped in 15 points, and it was his 11th straight game for the Seminoles. FSU (13-12, 7-7 ACC) has now lost three straight and five of their last six. The Seminoles have struggled to defend the three-point line lately, giving up 10 or more threes in their last three games. All of those games were losses for FSU.
Up next, Duke will face the Miami Hurricanes on Wednesday. Florida State will face Boston College in Tallahassee on Tuesday.