After each Duke men's basketball game this season, check back here for the Player of the Game and more. Today, the Blue Zone breaks down Paolo Banchero's steady play and the rest of the Blue Devils' comfortable road win against Boston College:
One player: Paolo Banchero
Making Duke’s first basket of the match after the Eagles had already tallied four points, Banchero had the spotlight on him from the start Saturday evening. The freshman registered his eighth double-double of the season, putting the icing on the cake of the Blue Devils' victory against Boston College. Though he had garnered two other double-doubles in his past three matches, the performance arguably marks the freshman forward's best since his 21-point performance against Notre Dame. With 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead Duke in both categories, Banchero was versatile on the court, assisting his team in any way he could to snag the triumph.
In 34 minutes of play, Banchero drained 7-of-14 baskets from the field, including a 7-of-12 mark from inside the arc. The Seattle native had the most attempts at the basket as well, and his 50% accuracy clip from the field is a testament to his potential as the closer the Blue Devils need to keep pulling off these wins.
One word: Collaborative
With eight players contributing on the scoreboard and nine total players tallying at least one assist, the perfect word to describe Duke’s performance against Boston College is collaborative. Banchero may have made the first basket, but it was the group effort that held the Eagles from recording another two for multiple minutes after. That persistence held throughout the match despite the Blue Devils’ slow start, as the team finally took the lead and maintained it after nearly six minutes of playing from behind.
The players that scored also helped the team in other ways—Duke's 41 rebounds, five blocks and five steals came from these efforts. Additionally, the team’s defense led to limited opportunities for the Eagles from outside, as the Eagles connected on just 8.3% of attempts from downtown. Duke finished the first half with a nine-point lead and only improved from there, ending the match with an 11-point win.
One stat: Five double-digit scorers
Every player who saw time on the court helped the Blue Devils in the match, with no single scorer tallying more than 16 points despite the team's 72 total points. Though there were many different players who helped Duke head home with the victory, there were five athletes specifically who made the biggest dent in the numbers, each scoring double digits. The quintet of Banchero, Wendell Moore Jr., AJ Griffin, Mark Williams and Trevor Keels made that happen: Keels played off the bench, yet provided 13 of the Blue Devils' 17 bench points, and Moore played one of his best matches from afar, going 4-of-5 from 3-point range.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.