Beyond the arc: Duke men's basketball vs. Penn State

Despite two injury scares for top-ranked Duke against Penn State Saturday in the semifinals of the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off in Uncasville, Conn., the Blue Devils held off the Nittany Lions by a score of 78-68. Chase Jeter did not return to the game after injuring his ankle in the first half, making Duke's frontcourt even more depleted with Harry Giles, Marques Bolden and Jayson Tatum still sidelined as well, but the Blue Devils won even without making many substitutions in the second half.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Get the ball into Grayson Allen’s hands: After scaring Blue Devil fans by quickly limping off the court and into the locker room early in the first half, he returned several minutes later, but only recorded one assist, three rebounds and zero points in the final 10 minutes of the half. Allen came out strong in the second half, though, throwing down a dunk two minutes into the period, and he also dished out a few passes from inside the lane that led to Penn State fouls. The junior captain finished with 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting
• Let Luke Kennard Shine: Playing all 40 minutes, Kennard scored 15 points on three 3-pointers and five rebounds and three assists. He also knocked down both of his late-game free throws, improving his success rate from the line this season to 83.3 percent. But the Franklin, Ohio, native was not as efficient as he had been in Duke's first few games, shooting just 5-of-16 from the field. 
• Continue to play lockdown defense at the perimeter: For the fourth time in their four contests this season, Duke held its opponent to worse than 30 percent from the 3-point line. Penn State attempted 22 triples and made only six of them, shooting 27.3 percent from downtown. Three of those 3-pointers came from junior Payton Banks, who has made at least three triples in all four of the Nittany Lions’ games.

Three key stats:

• The Blue Devils finish with just a 38-37 rebounding edge: Duke has struggled rebounding the ball to begin the season without rim protectors Bolden and Giles under the basket. The Blue Devils allowed 14 offensive boards Saturday, only coming away with 70 percent of the available rebounds on the defensive end.  But Duke's 10 offensive rebounds matched its most of the regular season.
• Duke’s bench outscored Penn State’s 19-5: Although 17 of the Blue Devils' bench points came from Frank Jackson, who played most of the game once Jeter went down for the game, it is a positive sign for the Blue Devils that even with four significant injuries, the team still has enough depth to win.
• Five Blue Devils were in double figures: Allen, Jackson, Kennard, Amile Jefferson and Matt Jones each scored at least 12 points, and all five except Allen scored 15 or more. Duke's ball movement—Allen, Jackson and Kennard combined for 10 assists—and balanced scoring are both good signs for the team early in the season. The Blue Devils have now had five scorers in double figures in all four games this year.

Three key plays:

• 12:34 remaining, second half: Matt Jones made his third 3-pointer of the game off an assist from Jackson, putting Duke up by 14 points. In an effective performance from Jones on both ends of the court, he scored 15 points and went 6-for-8 from the field, including 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
• 9:06 remaining, second half: After going down early in the game with a toe injury and appearing to play conservatively when he returned, Allen erased concerns about his health by driving to the rim, drawing a foul and making a layup, bringing the Blue Devils’ lead to 65-51.
• 2:36 remaining, second half: Penn State junior Shep Garner made a 3-pointer, cutting Duke’s lead to eight points for the first time of the half and bringing his scoring total to 11. Garner would finish as the Nittany Lions' second-leading scorer with 15 points, but Penn State only scored four points the rest of the way to derail its comeback attempt.

And the Duke game ball goes to…. Amile Jefferson