Beyond the arc: Duke basketball vs. Vermont

No. 6 Duke (5-1) survived a scare from Vermont (1-5), winning narrowly 91-90 on a Rodney Hood free throw with five seconds left in the game. The Catamounts torched the nets in the second half, scoring 47 points, led by forward Hector Harold, who netted 24 for the game off the bench. Freshman forward Jabari Parker led the Blue Devils with 26 points and nine boards.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Continue to dominate offensively: In the first half, the Blue Devils used their characteristic up-tempo style of play to score 51 points on the Catamounts. However, Duke’s lackluster defense allowed Vermont to hang in the game; they were only down eight points at the half. The Blue Devils had trouble manufacturing baskets in the half-court in the second half, as they were outplayed by the Catamounts who were seemingly scoring at will every time down the floor.
• Win the rebounding battle: Duke won the rebounding battle 30-24, with Parker, forward Rodney Hood, and forward Amile Jefferson contributing nine, seven, and six boards, respectively. The Blue Devils also scored 20 second-chance points compared to only eight for Vermont. Still, the team has room to improve at boxing out, as it allowed the Catamounts open put-backs on several occasions.
• Force Vermont to take outside shots: The Blue Devils were unable to force the Catamounts to settle for outside shots, as they dominated with 50 points in the paint, compared to only 24 for Duke. Vermont clearly learned from East Carolina that Duke is vulnerable to passes off of dribble penetration. The Catamounts were selective with their outside shooting, and made 4-of-13 from beyond the arc. Most notable was, guard Candon Rusin’s four-point play with 10.4 seconds left to tie the score at 90.

Three key plays:

• Vermont shoots 64.8 % from the field: The Catamounts shot the lights out, making 35-of-54 shots from the floor. Vermont was able to shoot extremely well because they did not force long-range shots, using inside passing to score 50 points in the paint. The few outside jumpers that the Catamounts did take were uncontested as the Blue Devils were focused on stopping penetration.
• Vermont tallies 21 assists: Vermont was able to score so effectively because they passed off of penetration to set up open, jumpers, lay-ups and dunks. On the other hand, the Blue Devils only had 16 assists, as a greater portion of their offense came from outside shooting and fast breaks. Duke hit 10 3-pointers and scored eight fast break points.
• Jabari Parker scores 26 points: Parker has scored at least 20 points in every game this season, and was just one shy of his season-high of 27 against Kansas. He scored in a variety of ways, with outside jumpers, full-court drives and alley-oop dunks.

And the Duke game ball goes to…Rodney Hood:

Hood scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Blue Devils. He made three three-pointers over the course of the game, and his inside-outside game was one of the few ways Duke was able to generate offense during stretches of the second half. Hood brought up the ball on Duke’s final possession, and delivered by drawing a foul and making one of two free throws. He made seven out of eight free throws on the game.

And the Vermont game ball goes to…Hector Harold:

Harold scored 24 points off the bench, including 15 in an eight minute-span midway through the second half that helped Vermont storm back into the game and take the lead from the Blue Devils. Harold made a pair of critical 3-pointers late in the game, the second of which gave the Catamounts their first lead since just more than four minutes into the first half.