Stock Up, Stock Down: Duke basketball shows concerning signs in victory
The Duke basketball team pulled out a victory on Tuesday night against the Boston College Eagles but the Blue Devils showed some concerning signs in the rough outing.
Tuesday night was not a poster night for college basketball in Chestnut Hill, but the Duke Blue Devils managed to escape with a victory against a less than average Boston College team.
Duke came away with a 63-55 victory but the Blue Devils left the arena with some more question marks regarding rotations, player development, and shot selection.
More from Ball Durham
- Duke basketball: The architect behind digital dominance
- Duke basketball prioritizing frontcourt prospects in 2025
- Duke basketball: Unmasking the hate for the Blue Devils
- Duke basketball: Countdown to Craziness lands another huge visitor
- Duke basketball fills final open scholarship
Neither team could hit its permitter shots as Duke and Boston College combined to go 3-of-33 from 3-point range, the Blue Devils just making 1-of-15 while thee Eagles made 2-of-18.
However, the one 3-pointer Duke made was the key shot in igniting the Blue Devils comeback as Joey Baker cut a four point deficit to one.
On Saturday night against Syracuse turnovers were an issue for Duke and on Tuesday the Blue Devils did a much better job at valuing the basketball, committing just 11 turnovers while forcing Boston College into 17 turnovers.
Duke was also in a slew of foul trouble against the Orange and the Blue Devils only fouled Boston College 15 times in Tuesday’s victory, but four came from Vernon Carey Jr., who only played 28 minutes.
On paper, Duke had a significant height advantage coming into Tuesday’s game but the Eagles were able to outrebound the Blue Devils by one, 40-39.
Derryck Thornton and Jay Heath were able to have productive games for Boston College, combining for 33 of the Eagles’ 55 points on 12-of-23 shooting but Duke did a great job locking the rest of the playmakers down for Boston College as the rest of the team only shot 10-of-36.
Duke will certainly take the victory but there are many things to work on for the Blue Devils going forward as the final game of the road trip is on the horizon against the North Carolina Tar Heels.