Blue Devils ride defense to victory

Duke used a lockdown defensive effort to beat Notre Dame, 57-43.

Paolo Banchero led all scorers with 21 points (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

Duke’s defense carried the torch from start to finish Monday, leading the way to a 57-43 victory over Notre Dame. 

The 14 point win came in spite of a porous offensive showing from the Blue Devils that saw them connect on just 39.4% of their shot attempts, including an atrocious 15.8% from beyond the arc. Even still, Mike Krzyzewski’s squad found a way to become the first to knock off the Fighting Irish in South Bend this season. 

The Blue Devils were able to put together multiple mini-streaks throughout the game that kept Notre Dame at arms length for most of the night. This was true despite how bad Duke’s offense was at times. 

Two important streaks came at the start and end of the first half. The Blue Devils rattled off seven unanswered points throughout first 3:32 of the game, and eventually outscored the Fighting Irish 11-4 through the first seven minutes of the game.  

Notre Dame responded and kept the game within single digits for most of the half, but with 4:34 left in the first 20 minutes of action, Duke went on a 9-0 run to jump out to a 27-14 lead at the break. The Blue Devils then continued its offensive success with a 7-2 run in the first 3:13 of the second half, effectively putting Notre Dame on its heels for the rest of the game. 

Ultimately, with Duke outscoring Notre Dame 16-2 over that 7:47 stretch of play, the lead ballooned to 34-16. The Blue Devils stretched it out to as many as 22 points in the second half, and it was not until late in the game with most of the starters out that the Irish were able to cut into the lead. 

As mentioned, though, Duke’s win did not come as a result of an offensive show. Instead, it was about tremendous defense from the Blue Devils. 

The plan for Duke was to run Notre Dame off the 3-point line, where the Fighting Irish feature two of the best shooters in the nation — Dane Goodwin, who is hitting 50% from long range and Nate Laszewski, who is connecting on 47% from deep. 

Goodwin has been even better at home, making 58% from 3-point range. 

Mark Williams had three blocks Monday (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

To say the Blue Devils were locked in at keeping him from getting good looks is an understatement. The senior attempted just two 3-pointers, both misses. Overall, he shot the ball seven times, coming up empty on every single one. By game’s end, Duke had held Goodwin, Notre Dame’s leading scorer at 15.4 per game, without a single point. 

The Blue Devils smothering defense did not stop with Goodwin, though. Notre Dame’s second leading scorer, Blake Wesley, who entered the night averaging 15 points, finished with just six points on 3-of-15 shooting, including an 0-of-3 night from beyond the arc. 

Add to that Laszewski’s four points on just 1-of-5 shooting, and 0-of-3 from long range, and three of Notre Dame’s top four scorers combined for 10 points on 4-of-27 shooting and 0-of-8 from 3-point range. 

Only Notre Dame big man Paul Atkinson Jr. outperformed his season averages, scoring 14 points and grabbing nine rebounds on the day. He was the only positive for Notre Dame’s offense all game long. 

As a whole, Notre Dame shot just 27.9% from the field and 16.7% from deep. 

One of the biggest reasons for Duke’s defensive success was Mark Williams’s presence. Though 7-footer blocked only three shots, he altered dozens over the course of the night. His occupancy of the paint allowed for the Blue Devils’ perimeter defenders to stay home on shooters and not feel the need to help around the hoop. 

Early in the game, Williams would follow Atkinson out to the perimeter, opening up driving lanes. But after Krzyzewski and his staff reminded the big man that Notre Dame’s center was not a threat to hit shots from the perimeter, he sagged off protected the lane. 

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That lone move might have changed everything for Duke in how they were able to keep the Irish from getting open looks from the outside. 

When Williams was not in the game, Theo John and Paolo Banchero took on the same philosophy, combining for three blocks between them.  

BANCHERO KILLER FROM THE MID-RANGE

Two things were working for Duke on offense — one being Banchero’s mid-range jumper that Notre Dame had no answer for all night. 

The freshman scored a game-high 21 points on 10-of-22 shooting, while also grabbing nine rebounds and registering two steals and a block. On a sour note, he did turn the ball over five times — we’ll get back to those in a moment. 

His most impressive showing of the game, though, came when he came off screens or worked free with the dribble to get good, open looks from the mid-range. And when he did, he buried the shot. His extension on the shot left wing defenders with no shot of contesting, and his quickness to his spot kept Laszewski from ever being a threat to alter the attempts. 

Banchero also showed quick moves from the top to the hoop and Notre Dame never had a shot at defending the big man when he attacked at full speed. 

The negatives of the night for Banchero are issues he’s had more frequently that not this season: getting too dribble happy and settling for 3s too frequently, though not many of those were what Krzyzewski would consider to be bad shots. 

The dribbling, however, got him into trouble, as it does often. He has the tendency at times to dribble into traffic, and Notre Dame was ready for it. 

All in all, it didn’t matter. His overall offensive performance was a big reason Duke was able to score at all on a night where not much was falling. 

AJ Griffin was in attack mode all game (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

GRIFFIN CONTINUES TO IMPROVE 

AJ Griffin continues his rise to national prominence. He finished the game as Duke’s second leading scorer with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 1-of-2 from long range. he played just 22 minutes and was a consistent force throughout that time. 

He is growing more and more comfortable attacking the basket with each game. Tonight, he looked to get to the paint and mid-range much more frequently than he sought out his shot from the perimeter. As a result, he put a lot of pressure on Notre Dame’s defense. 

In addition to his strong showing on offense, Griffin had his best performance on the glass, pulling down nine rebounds, tying Banchero and John for the team lead. 

DOMINANCE ON THE GLASS 

Duke knew coming in that it had to win the boards — and there was really no reason they shouldn’t, despite rebounding being an issue for them at times this season. Notre Dame entered the game ranked No. 12 in the ACC in total rebounds and last on the offensive glass. 

And Krzyzewski’s team did exactly what it needed to, limiting the Fighting Irish from getting second chance opportunities. Notre Dame did have 11 offensive boards for the game — six of those came in the second half — but they were only able to convert those into five second chance points. 

Overall, Notre Dame had just 36 rebounds. 

Duke countered that with 51 boards and 35 of those coming on the defensive end of the floor. Three Duke players finished with nine rebounds apiece — Banchero, John and Griffin. Williams added eight boards, while Wendell Moore Jr. finished with five rebounds.