Duke set to open home slate of ACC play against familiar face

The Duke Basketball team will open its home slate of ACC games on Tuesday night against the Boston College Eagles who have a very familiar face.

Tuesday night is the second half of the season for the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils, ACC play.

Duke stands at 11-1 on the season and despite one conference win already underneath the Blue Devils’ belt, the true test through the conference will begin with the Boston College Eagles.

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Boston College is 8-5 but two of its wins are in the ACC due to the conference’s new way of scheduling league games during non-conference play.

The Eagles have a familiar face on its team in senior point guard Derryck Thornton. Thornton spent one year in Durham with Duke in the 2015-16 season.

Duke will be anticipating the return of its point guard, Tre Jones, who has missed the last two games with a foot sprain, but Mike Krzyzewski called his absence precautionary and expects the sophomore to return on Tuesday.

Due to the breaks in the schedule in the month of December, Jones has not played in a game for the Blue Devils since its first ACC win of the season on December 6 against Virginia Tech.

Jordan Goldwire has replaced Jones in the starting lineup but it has been the play of Vernon Carey Jr. that has led Duke, with or without its point guard on the floor.

For Boston College to have success against Duke on Tuesday, it will need to rely upon its leading scorer, Derryck Thornton, and a heavy barrage of 3-pointers will need to fall.

With Tre Jones back in the fold, everyone on Duke can fall back into its normal position and rotation and the Blue Devils should be ready to end 2019 with a victory in front of its home fans.

Duke is set to tipoff its final game of the decade at 6:00pm EST against the Boston College Eagles at Cameron Indoor Stadium with the game being broadcasted on the ACC Network.

PREDICTION: Duke 86, Boston College 63