Home court had not been kind to the nation’s top teams this week.
But against a pesky Boston College squad determined to earn its first-ever win in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke did what Kansas, Pittsburgh and Syracuse couldn’t. The Blue Devils (19-1, 6-1 in the ACC) used a 32-16 run spanning both halves to put away the Eagles, earning a 84-68 victory and protecting their home floor for the 31st consecutive game—the longest active streak in the country.
“We won a really good game tonight,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They’re very good. They’re experienced, run a very well-conceived offense. One of the keys to the game was how well our big guys played.”
The Blue Devils’ frontcourt continued its recent stretch of strong play, particularly on the defensive end.
Against an unconventional offense that relies on a lot of ball movement and spreading the floor, Duke’s big men were tasked with guarding the Eagles (14-7, 4-3) on the perimeter and defending the high pick-and-roll. But instead of being flustered by Boston College’s unique spacing, the Plumlees and Ryan Kelly were able to take full advantage of their athleticism rather than being bullied in the low post. The trio still protected the paint effectively, combining for five blocks.
“I thought our big guys really moved their feet well,” Krzyzewski said. “Their defense and how they handled [Boston College’s offense] was key.”
The solid defense from the big men combined with heavy ball pressure from Duke’s guards allowed the team to actively get in passing lanes and frustrate the flow of the Eagles’ offense. The Blue Devils forced 13 turnovers—and converted those takeaways into 16 fast-break points, equal to the team’s margin of victory. Miles Plumlee was particularly effective at denying entry passes, coming up with a game-high four steals.
“They beat us on a few backdoors because of that,” Curry said of the trapping defense, “But I think it paid off in the long run.”
Boston College guard Corey Raji was the prime beneficiary of those backdoor cuts, repeatedly finding space against the Blue Devils to the tune of 18 points, including 12 in the first half before Duke broke the game open. But his scoring could not overcome a surprisingly subpar performance from Reggie Jackson, the Eagles’ leading scorer.
Jackson, who entered the game as the second-highest scorer in the conference behind Nolan Smith, was held to two points in the first 30 minutes. The Blue Devils threw a variety of defenders at the senior guard, frustrating him into a number of bad shots.
“We had a good team focus on [Jackson],” Smith said. “We were switching things, guard to guard, so Seth was on him a lot, I was on him, Tyler and everybody just had a great focus on top of him.”
While Boston College struggled to score, Duke had no such difficulty putting points on the board.
Smith easily maintained his lead atop the ACC scoring list, netting 28 points on 10-of-20 shooting. He managed to get everyone else involved by repeatedly driving into the lane and finding open shooters. After shooting 30.4 percent from long range in the last five games, the Blue Devils connected on 10-of-22 3-pointers.
“I thought we had more kicks tonight,” Krzyzewski said. “Our feet were set a little bit more than they have been in the last few games.”
Curry led the charge from beyond the arc, sinking five threes en route to 20 points, his highest total of the season. Kelly hit five consecutive shots to bring his streak of makes to 18 before finally missing. He finished with 14 points, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range.
The sophomores will be called upon to replicate their fine shooting form when Duke hits the road to play St. John’s at Madison Square Garden Sunday.
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