SOUTH BEND, IND.—Duke entered unfriendly confines Monday night, squaring off against a hot Notre Dame squad with a raucous crowd behind it. Despite that, the Blue Devils were locked in defensively and outrebounded the Fighting Irish by 10 en route to a 27-14 lead at intermission. Here are five takeaways from the action so far.
Keel Mode activated
Trevor Keels is back for the Blue Devils after getting injured during Duke’s Jan. 18 loss to Florida State. While the Blue Devils didn’t miss a beat in his absence, collecting three wins, it certainly doesn’t hurt to get the player with the third-most points per game on the team back into the rotation. He didn’t put up dazzling numbers—three points and three assists—but the depth he added gave the Blue Devils some room to breathe as they grinded through the game.
Backcourt shares the load
Prior to Keels coming back, sophomore guard Jeremy Roach had returned to the starting lineup, picking up 23 assists alongside just three turnovers in the three games that his fellow Virginia native missed. As such, with Keels’ return on the horizon, there was the question of who would lead the Blue Devils’ offense with both of them in the lineup.
The answer? Both. While Roach started, they ultimately ended up spending about equal time on the court, putting up similar numbers as well.
The Shooting Irish
The Fighting Irish have the most team 3-pointers made per game of all the teams in the ACC, and Notre Dame guard Dane Goodwin has been shooting a blistering 52.5% from distance at home this season. While the Blue Devils have had solid perimeter defense this year, and freshman AJ Griffin has emerged as an elite shooter—going 5-for-5 against Louisville Saturday—the first half in Purcell Pavilion looked like it would be a true test of how the Blue Devils could fare in a triple battle.
However, both teams were snake bitten for much of the half, with only one made three on 10 combined attempts through the first ten minutes of the game. That one three also came from Paolo Banchero, who is not usually the biggest shooting threat on the floor.
Rebounds abound
Have the Blue Devils rid themselves of their rebound struggles? That may be a bit preemptive, but after dominating on the glass against Louisville Saturday, the Blue Devils proving that that wasn’t a one-off performance by outrebounding Notre Dame 29-19 was certainly encouraging for the rest of their season. Rebounding had been a struggle for Duke in the early season, but the Blue Devils sprinted past the Fighting Irish in the second-chance points race with six to Notre Dame’s zero because of their seven offensive rebounds. If they can keep that trend going, that’s one check off the list of things the Blue Devils need to tidy up before they gun for a championship run.
Player of the half: Paolo Banchero
The Cameron Crazies are crazy, but the Fighting Irish are ruthless. All half, they taunted and jeered, especially singling out Banchero. He responded, however, leading all players on the floor with seven points and six rebounds. While he was similarly affected by the shooting curse that seemingly affected every player, with the usually efficient freshman going just 3-of-9 from the field, persistence and a willingness to do the dirty work lifted him to a solid first-half performance anyway.
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Sasha Richie is a Trinity senior and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.