Duke grinds out win over Boston College
Duke battled for 40 minutes Saturday, and left Boston College with another double-digit victory.
Four games in eight days. It’s the kind of schedule that tests a team’s mental aptitude and overall toughness.
And by most accounts, Duke performed well with adversity staring the team directly in the face. Saturday afternoon, the Blue Devils ended this challenging stretch with a 72-61 win over Boston College on the road.
It was the second road victory in just three days after Duke cruised past Clemson on Thursday. The win also helped the Blue Devils wrap up the eight day stretch with three wins to only one loss — a defeat to Virginia in which they were very much in a position to win and in fact probably should have.
No matter the case, a 3-1 record in those games is nothing to scoff at. Through it all, head coach Mike Krzyzewski and his staff have seen considerable growth in their team over this last week-plus of games.
After arriving in Boston at 3 a.m. Friday morning, the Blue Devils fought off fatigue to earn its 11th victory in ACC play Saturday. Though the final point differential was just 11 points against Boston College, this game was not even remotely as close as that score might indicated.
Duke led the Eagles 71-50 with 3:55 remaining in the game, but a Boston College 11-1 run ensued after Krzyzewski began to sit his regulars.
This game was only relatively close once in the second half when BC cut into Duke’s lead, and clawed to within seven points at 51-44 with 11:20 remaining in the game. That was the last time the Eagles even sniffed a chance to pull off the upset.
Duke slammed the door shut by outscoring Boston College 20-6 over the next 7:25. That stretch saw Trevor Keels once again come to life, scoring seven of his 13 points to help ignite the Blue Devils.
The Blue Devils’ run over that final span of time also saw Paolo Banchero assert himself in a way that Boston College had no answer. The freshman scored only four of his team-high 16 points during that seven-plus minute stretch, however, he was a force on the board, pulling down five rebounds to help limit Boston College’s opportunities on offense.
Banchero finished the game with 14 rebounds, including three offensive boards that helped contribute to the Blue Devils’ 14 second chance points over the course of the evening.
Those two were not the only Blue Devils to contribute in a big way as they expanded their lead late in the second half.
Wendell Moore Jr. was once again a handful for Duke’s opponent. Offensively, he was more focused on getting his team in its offense and controlling things from up top. He did score three points, but it was more of what didn’t show up in the stat sheet that helped Duke the most.
During Duke’s run, Boston College made just 4-of-15 shot attempts and that came thanks to the Blue Devils locking up on defense — something that had proven to be tough for much of the night. Theo John and Mark Williams also proved to be hugely important in stopping Boston College’s attempt to keep things close.
Duke posted two of their five blocks in the game, both coming courtesy of John, while Williams altered numerous shots around the basket.
That span of time, as well as the end of the first half when Duke elevated its two point advantage with 3:14 to go in the first to a nine-point lead when the buzzer sounded for the break.
Up to that point, Duke had been grinding out the game. Fatigue from travel and frequent games appeared to be an issue at times, particularly in the first half. Duke looked sluggish to their spots, and reaction time on both ends of the floor was delayed.
Offensively, Duke got very little ball movement, spacing or positioning in the paint. As a result, Boston College was able to force seven first half turnovers that allowed them to keep the game closer than one might expect.
Duke was also being pushed off their spots, which ultimately made it difficult to use their size advantage around the rim.
Defensively, the Blue Devils were uncharacteristically getting beat off the dribble, as the Eagles were able to a multitude of easy drives to the basket. Consequently, Duke gave up 30 points off layups and an additional four points off dunks. That constitutes 56% of Boston College’s points came at the basket.
Boston College’s ability to get to the basket earned them a lot of praise, but their success spoke more to Duke’s heavy legs than the Eagles ability.
Even still, Duke was able to grind out the win. Typically, blowout victories (though once again, the final score doesn’t indicate that) are not characterized as wins in which a team had to labor through. But in this case, it’s probably the most accurate description of the contest.
And this is not meant to be a low-blow to Boston College, but they’re really not a very good basketball team. Much of what we saw from the Eagles probably would not have happened under normal circumstances.
So, the 20-plus advantage that Duke enjoyed late in the game told us several things — this young Blue Devils team is growing up; it’s learning to handle adversity and the rigors of a tough schedule, and that they are pretty darn good basketball team and has the ability to find ways to win even when things are not clicking in a manner most would expect.
Perhaps no better illustration of that is how Duke still managed to own the backboards, out-rebounding Boston College 41-31, including 13-11 on the offensive glass that resulted in 14 second chance points for the Blue Devils.
Duke’s ability to come together as a team and use balance on offense was another positive indicator of growth. Rather than one player trying to put things on his shoulders, Duke collectively fought, as five players scored in double figures (Banchero 16, Moore 14, Keels 13, AJ Griffin 10 & Mark Williams 10) and eight total finding the scoring column before the night ended.
Understandably, some will question what can actually be taken from a game against a team such as BC, but Duke was not battling the opponent on the floor so much as they were fighting with themselves.