Stock Up, Stock Down from another blowout win for Duke in ACC play

Matthew Hurt

In ACC play, Matthew Hurt has found his rhythm and has been one of the best players on the floor for the Blue Devils, but he took a step back on Saturday night.

Hurt played just 17 minutes and only scored five points while picking up four fouls.

The freshman from Minnesota also had three rebounds, one assist, and a block but only shot 2-of-5 from the field and 1-of-4 from 3-point range.

After a shaky start to the season, Matthew Hurt appears to have become more conformable with the college game and the hope is that Hurt just had a rare bad game in ACC play and he will get back into his rhythm on Tuesday against Clemson.

Alex O’Connell

Alex O’Connell took a hard fall on a drive to the hoop early in the first half and never looked quite the same for the remainder of the game.

The junior guard had to leave the game after hitting the deck and upon his return, he only scored one point on two missed field goal attempts, one of which coming from 3-point range.

O’Connell’s lone point came at the free throw line, where he only made 1-of-4 attempts but did four rebounds, one assist, and two steals.

Barring no further setbacks from his hard fall, Alex O’Connell should remain a key cog in the Duke rotation coming off the bench for the Duke Blue Devils.

Free-Throw Shooting

By unofficial count, free-throw shooting has seen the most appearances on the ‘Stock Down’ list.

Since Duke won by 31-points, the charity stripe did not hurt the Blue Devils but going 13-of-25 is never good, especially in your home building.

Cassius Stanley and Jack White made 5-of-6 and 3-of-4 from the free throw line, respectively, but Vernon Carey Jr. and Alex O’Connell were 2-of-6 and 1-of-4, respectively.

As a team, Duke is shooting 67.4 percent from the free throw line and that is nowhere close to as efficient the Blue Devils must be if they want to have success late in the season.