After a dominant 110-57 victory against Georgia Tech followed a loss to Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils will look to build on their momentum in their first game without head coach Mike Krzyzewski against Boston College at Cameron Indoor Stadium Saturday afternoon. The team will continue to integrate its top freshmen as well as build chemistry after Grayson Allen's return from a one-game suspension. Here are three keys to success for Duke:
Close Out On Shooters
After winning their first conference matchup against Syracuse to snap a year-long losing streak in conference play, the Eagles followed it up with a poor shooting effort in a loss against Wake Forest. But with three players shooting better than 39 percent from beyond the arc and a team 3-point percentage of 38.5 percent, the Eagles still present a threat from the outside for the Blue Devils.
Duke must close out on Boston College's perimeter weapons and force contested jumpers by getting its hands up and playing disciplined defense. The Blue Devils have defended the perimeter exceptionally well this season, holding opponents to just 29.2 percent shooting from long range, but did allow the Hokies to shoot 8-of-13 from the 3-point line last Saturday.
Continue Unselfish Play
With Allen returning to the lineup as the point guard Wednesday night against the Yellow Jackets, the Blue Devils moved the basketball well and racked up a season-high 24 assists. This allowed the team to reach the 100-point mark for the first time in an ACC game since 2009.
With a talent advantage at every position, Duke must continue its unselfish play by looking to make the extra pass and working to create open shots for each other. Luke Kennard is shooting better than 45 percent from the 3-point line and freshmen Frank Jackson and Jayson Tatum are also finding their shooting touch, so the Blue Devils must continue to look for each other on the offensive end and build on their strong offensive performance in their last contest.
Force Turnovers and Push The Tempo
Duke must apply pressure on the Eagles' ball-handlers in hopes of forcing turnovers leading to easy transition baskets. With the speed and ball-handling ability of guards Allen, Jackson and Matt Jones in the backcourt as well as Tatum, the Blue Devils have the ability to push the ball up the court off of turnovers and missed shots, creating easy scoring opportunities for the team. For the Duke to be successful Saturday afternoon, it should look to push the tempo offensively to take advantage of mistakes in hopes of breaking the game open early on like it did Wednesday.
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