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Duke Basketball: Blue Devils must avoid trap game against Boston College

By Kevin Connelly

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 02: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils shoots over Sedee Keita #0 of the St. John's Red Storm during the second half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 02, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 91-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 02: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils shoots over Sedee Keita #0 of the St. John's Red Storm during the second half of their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 02, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 91-61. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Basketball team must avoid a trap game on Tuesday night against the Boston College Eagles with a matchup against Virginia on Saturday evening.

The 11-9 (2-6 ACC) Boston College Eagles come into Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night to face the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils and this is a prime trap game for Duke.

The Blue Devils are coming off of a 30-point victory over St. John’s on Saturday and Duke will head to Charlottesville on Saturday for a rematch with No. 3 Virginia.

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While the talent discrepancy between Duke and Boston College is clear on paper and on the court, the Eagles do have one player that could hurt the Blue Devils and that is star guard Ky Bowman.

Bowman is third in the ACC in scoring, behind R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson, averaging 20.8 points per game and leading the team in assists at 3.5 assists per game.

However, it will Bowman with the tall test going up against the best defender in college basketball, Tre Jones.

Jones held Shamorie Ponds, St. John’s leading scorer, scoreless in the first half on Saturday and forcing him into five turnovers in the game, as Jones had three steals.

Zion Williamson was just named as the ACC’s Freshman of the Week and he should continue to dominate on the inside along with R.J. Barrett as Boston College does not have any players that could matchup with either of the two.

Like many teams have used against Duke recently, look for Boston College to play some 2-3 zone at some point on Tuesday night and that means the Blue Devils will try and shoot from 3-point range.

Duke has hit its first two 3-point shots in its last two games against Notre Dame and St. John’s, with Cam Reddish and Tre Jones hitting both shots in both games.

After snapping out of his shooting slump in a victory on the road against Florida State, Reddish has struggled with his shot once again, but has shown signs on improvement late in the game against the Irish and early against the Red Storm.

As the game is set to tipoff at 7:00pm ET on ESPN, look for the Blue Devils to separate themselves from Boston College in the first half and then cruising to a victory in the second half, setting up the showdown in Charlottesville on Saturday with No. 3 Virginia.

PREDICTION: Duke 96, Boston College 72

Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Boston College Eagles. 

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