Athletic Duke Basketball Rookie Credits Mindset Shift for Career Night

Dame Sarr claims a surge in his defensive effort led to him becoming the Duke basketball scoring leader in a game for the first time.

Duke basketball guard Dame Sarr | Danny Wild-Imagn Images

Dame Sarr shot only 22.2 percent from the field across the first two games of his Duke basketball freshman campaign. Game 3 was an entirely different story, to the tune of a team-high 19 points on 6-for-8 shooting overall, including a 3-for-5 clip from three.

But as the 19-year-old starting wing from Italy explained, following Tuesday night's 114-59 true road win over the unranked Army Black Knights, his sudden uptick in offensive production and efficiency stemmed from his rebooted aggressive mentality on the defensive end.

Dame took the 🍪🍪 pic.twitter.com/7GqBuDGdqx

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) November 12, 2025

"My defensive mindset," Sarr noted when asked what made the difference in his performance compared to Saturday's two-point outing. "I think last game I wasn't so aggressive on defense. After talking with the coaches, that's not who I am. So today, I just wanted to bring myself, be aggressive on defense, and everything else came together... Whenever I I'm focused on defense, then everything else comes by itself. I didn't try to force it, it just came. And that's what I'm trying to do every time.”

Dame at West Point 🤌💪

19 points
3 steals
6-8 FG
3-5 3pt pic.twitter.com/CBILI4wkOC

— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) November 13, 2025

Scheyer's Thoughts

Fourth-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer reminded folks that Sarr is new to the college game, adding that the versatile athlete exhibited determined resiliency in the way he responded to his recently cold shooting.

“I think Dame has really felt the journey you can be on as a freshman already," Scheyer said. "He was upset the way he played the last game. But he showed the ability to come back the next time and to play the way that he did. I think that says a lot about his character. His ability to really guard stands out. But we've known the offensive potential that's there as well. Tonight, he really had it going on both ends."

Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer subs out Duke guard/forward Dame Sarr (7) during a college basketball exhibition game against Tennessee on October 26, 2025, in Knoxville, Tenn. | Saul Young/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In addition to a career-high scoring total versus Army, Dame Sarr tallied three rebounds and three steals in his 21 minutes on the court.

For the season, he's averaging 9.7 points, 4.3 boards, and 2.0 steals per contest, now shooting 47.1 percent from the field, 50.0 percent beyond the arc, and 53.3 percent at the foul line.

Sarr and the No. 4-ranked Duke Blue Devils (3-0, 0-0 ACC) are currently getting ready to host the Indiana State Sycamores (2-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley) in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m. ET Friday (ACC Network).

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