Beyond the Arc: Duke basketball vs. Boston College

Duke began conference play with an 85-62 victory against Boston College at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday afternoon for its 13th straight double-digit win of the season. Freshman center Jahlill Okafor led the Blue Devils with a career-high 28 points on 7-of-11 shooting, 14-of-17 shooting from the free throw line, eight rebounds and four blocks. His 28 points were a Duke freshman record for a conference opener and he got plenty support from his teammates as the Blue Devils cruised to victory.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Start fast: Although the Blue Devils led by 16 at the half, they once again started slow and flat. Boston College kept the game close throughout the first 14 minutes. Soon after the Blue Devils jumped out to a 17-10 lead with 13 minutes to go in the first half, the Eagles went on an 8-4 scoring run to knock the margin down to three before Duke control by dominating the rest of the half to take a 38-22 lead into the locker room. Although a lot of the Blue Devils' slow start seemed like it had to do with Boston College's different looks on defenses, Duke knows it needs to play its A-game for longer stretches as its schedule toughens.
• Contain the Eagles’ backcourt: Boston College’s wing duo of Olivier Hanlan and Aaron Brown met their combined scoring average with 32 points and did some damage with dribble penetration throughout the game. However, the Blue Devils held Brown scoreless in the first half and did not allow Hanlan to score in the final 10 minutes of the period thanks to tenacious defense by reserve guards Matt Jones and Rasheed Sulaimon. Duke knew it only needed to prevent Hanlan and Brown from creating for their teammates consistently to meet its defensive goals and that's exactly what happened Saturday afternoon, as Hanlan and Brown combined for more than half of their team's points and had just four combined assists.
• Strong interior defense: Duke’s interior defense struggled to contain the Eagles early in the first half as Hanlan continuously drove the lane and converted at the rim off of pick-and-rolls. But The Blue Devils’ rim protection improved as the game wore on and Okafor and backup center Marshall Plumlee asserted themselves down low. Duke's centers both had four blocks and the Blue Devils had 10 as a team, a season-high, and took control of the game when they stopped allowing easy looks in the paint.

Three key plays:

• 6:39, first half: Justise Winslow finds Matt Jones for a three-pointer at the top of the key. The play began Duke’s 13-2 run to close out the first half and finally extend the lead to double-digits and was the sophomore guard's first 3-pointer since Nov. 26.
• 5:35, first half: Winslow grabs a long rebound after a Boston College miss, evades a defender, flies down the court and throws down a vicious left-handed tomahawk dunk to continue the Blue Devils' run and make one of Duke's biggest highlight plays of the season.
• 11:22, second half: Sulaimon drains his second three-pointer of the game off of a pass from Quinn Cook. Throughout the first eight minutes of the game, Duke’s lead hovered around 13 points. The Blue Devils could not blow the game open until Sulaimon’s three-pointer increased the margin to 17 points and ignited a run that put the game away, as the Houston native then found Cook on Duke's next possession for another 3-pointer before canning another one himself to stretch the lead to 23 with 10 minutes left in the game.

Three key stats:

• Okafor sets new career high free throw attempts: Okafor shot just 50 percent from the free-throw line in his first 12 collegiate games, but found a new rhythm Saturday, converting on 14 of his 17 attempts. The Chicago native made his first 10 free throws, most on swishes, and raised his percentage to 57.3 in just one afternoon.
• Duke’s bench combines for 22 points and 13 rebounds in 66 minutes of play: After having little impact against Connecticut, Sulaimon, Matt Jones, and Marshall Plumlee have contributed more off the bench in the last three games, especially defensively, and had one of their best performances Saturday. Against the Eagles, they provided balance on the offensive side of the ball and were huge with their passion and aggressiveness in guarding Boston College's pick-and-roll offense.
• Boston College collects 18 offensive rebounds: Although the Blue Devils played solid defense throughout the game's final 30 minutes, they still struggled to keep the Eagles off the glass for much of the game. Boston College out-rebounded Duke on the offensive end 18-16 despite playing without center Dennis Clifford for much of the game. The Blue Devils have many versatile lineups, including those featuring Winslow at the four, but must make sure to keep boxing out and rebounding if they want their defensive success to continue.

And the Duke game ball goes to…Jahlill Okafor