It is rare to say that a blowout win highlighted a team’s flaws, but that is exactly what happened in Duke’s 88-63 win against Boston College Saturday.
By the end of the game, the Blue Devils were coasting to their 12th-straight victory, but the road to get there was by no means without its bumps. The absence of Maliq Brown was acutely felt in the frontcourt — Cooper Flagg, Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba II picked up four fouls — and Duke looked like a team full of freshmen for the first time since its early-season losses to Kansas and Kentucky.
When the Eagles soared out of the gates to a hot start, the Blue Devils got nervous and were tight on offense; Flagg started 1-for-5 from the field and freshman Kon Knueppel took just one first-half shot. The defense was even worse. Eagle forward Chad Venning’s success down low was compounded by uncharacteristic missed coverages across the board, and Boston College ended the first half with a 58.3% field-goal percentage.
“Our post defense has to be better. We have to just straight up guard the ball better,” head coach Jon Scheyer said. “But most importantly, we weren't moving five guys on the string like we have been. So that's something that we have to get back to [at] practice. We have to take a jump with that.”
Entering most conference games as an overwhelming favorite is not always an easy task. With the way Duke has dominated the ACC thus far, anything short of a total drubbing is seen as a blemish. That makes a close game — even if it is in the first half on the road — feel bigger than it should.
All season, Maluach has excelled at remaining vertical and altering shots even without going for blocks. Against Venning in Chestnut Hill, Mass., though, Maluach played too far on his toes, falling for ball fakes and fancy footwork that baited him into fouling. Maluach has the physical skills to hang with any center in the nation, but Scheyer will surely work on helping the 7-foot-2 big man slow down and stay fundamental.
Similarly, Knueppel was sped up on the offensive end. The 6-foot-7 guard’s biggest strength this year has been his decision making, as he routinely makes the right decision in favor of trying a play that isn’t there. But coming out of the halftime locker room without a bucket, Knueppel forced a number of shots instead of looking for something better.
The good news for Maluach, Knueppel, Scheyer and the rest of the Blue Devils is that these mistakes are completely fixable. Both rookies have seen leagues of improvement already this season, and Saturday will only add more film to the practice roll.
Even better, Duke still won by 25.
The reason the Blue Devils pulled away is because of their constant and unrelenting pressure on both ends of the court. Scheyer has a flurry of offensive weapons that force opponents into picking their poison, and the bench has helped ensure that Duke’s defensive intensity wears its challengers down. It doesn’t hurt to have 28 points from Flagg, either.
“Fatigue played a part in it,” Venning said of the margin widening in the second half. “Just overall, they're really good. [We] can't give them any type of leeway, or they will take
advantage of it.”
Yet again, it was Isaiah Evans who came up with the haymakers. The freshman looked anything but nervous as he rained down four 3-pointers Saturday, employing his trademark celebration each time. If anything, Evans seems to crave big-time moments — his first-half performance against Auburn taught Blue Devil fans that.
"He [has] stayed ready this whole year, and he's such a spark off the bench for us,” Flagg said of his teammate. “I mean, [he is] incredibly talented.”
Duke’s veterans — Tyrese Proctor, Sion James and Mason Gillis — were just as important. Proctor and James anchored the backcourt; the former notched a season-high 20 points and the latter led the Blue Devils in rebounds with seven. Furthermore, both guards were crucial in stifling Boston College to just 32% shooting in the second half.
For his part, Gillis might have played the best individual defense on Venning of the night. The Purdue transfer is not afraid of being physical, and he helped establish Duke’s force as the night wore on.
“Those are two of the guys I think have been our greatest leaders so far this year,” Flagg said of Proctor and Gillis. “I think especially Mason. It might not show up in the stat sheet all the time, but even tonight, just the impact he had on the game and has every single night and every day in practice is so key for us.”
Until proven otherwise, the Blue Devils will continue to be favored in every ACC game they play. As Saturday showed, that does not mean each contest will be a cake walk. If Duke hopes to carry its successes past the regular season, it will need to learn every lesson it can along the way.
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Dom Fenoglio is a Trinity junior and a sports managing editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.