Duke basketball: How balance helped Blue Devils beat Notre Dame

Duke basketball finally showed the world the type of team it could be.

In South Bend on Wednesday night, the Duke basketball team led the entire way and had complete control of the game, notching an 85-75 win over a good Notre Dame team. This was the first time we have seen Duke (3-2, 1-0 ACC) play well against a quality opponent.

The Blue Devils were without star freshman Jalen Johnson, but their depth and balance helped them cruise to an encouraging victory on the road.

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Duke has had difficulty getting it going on both sides of the ball early this season. The offense, in particular, really struggled in the losses against both Michigan State and Illinois. Defensively, the Blue Devils have been OK but not exactly sharp at times.

Last night, however, Duke came to play on both sides of the ball. The Blue Devils scored 75 points and shot just under 52 percent from the field, including over 56 percent in the first half.

Notre Dame (2-3, 0-1 ACC) is a very capable offensive team and one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the ACC. Duke did a great job of limiting the number of good looks the Irish were able to get from beyond the arc. Notre Dame shot just 9-for-21 from three, and outside of Dane Goodwin, nobody else was able to find their grove shooting from the outside.

Areas that really helped Duke basketball against Notre Dame

First, the Blue Devils had gotten outrebounded in both of their losses this year. But they dominated on the glass and outrebounded the Irish by 10.

They had also been plagued by turnovers and poor shot selection. That was not the case on Wednesday night as the Blue Devils had just eight turnovers, the first time they were under double-digits in turnovers this season. Duke took care of the ball and got much better movement on offense.

The biggest reason why the offense looked so much better was ball movement. The Blue Devils had only eight assists in this game, but as a team, they moved well without the ball and didn’t try to force anything on offense.

Duke seemed like a much more confident team in this game.

Getting off to a strong start certainly helped. The Blue Devils hit some early shots, which helped boost the confidence of the entire team.

Duke may not have a dominant scorer on the team this year, but the Blue Devils do have multiple guys who can score. They had four players in double-figures, and senior guard Jordan Goldwire wasn’t too far behind with nine points.

Sophomore forward Matthew Hurt did a great job of going to work on the inside and not settling for outside shots. He was able to score off post-ups and fadeaways near the basket to help get the Duke basketball offense going. Hurt attempted just two 3-pointers. Hurt’s high release makes his shots almost impossible to block.

Going forward, I think we will see Hurt more at the low block and high post rather than beyond the 3-point line.

The freshman class really stepped up for Duke in this one as well.

Point guard Jeremy Roach had a terrific first half, knocking down two 3-pointers, and some beautiful finishes at the rim. He looked like a pro at times in this game.

For the first time since Duke’s opener, combo guard DJ Steward was awesome. The Irish had no answer for the Chicago native. Steward connected on three of his four 3-point attempts, including a sweet stepback three that left the Notre Dame defender on skates. He also had a big and-one layup in transition that really sealed the deal for Duke.

Steward played with great energy, and his movement off the ball was huge for Duke in this one. He had a couple of really nice cuts to the basket that resulted in open layups.

The Blue Devils also got great minutes from freshman forward Jaemyn Brakefield. He scored 10 points, and his ability to stretch the floor made him valuable in this game. Having Brakefield on the court forced Notre Dame to go small. This made it much easier for Duke to get good looks right around the basket.

The win on the road against Notre Dame was the result of a total team effort. The Blue Devils switched everything on defense, which made it hard for Notre Dame to get open shots from the perimeter. Duke was active in the passing lanes and had constant pressure on the ball, which led to the team coming away with eight steals in this game.

In order for the Blue Devils to continue winning, their pressure defense has to be like it was against the Irish. Duke is a smaller team, but the players do have good speed and athleticism. They can use that to wear down opponents and force them into turnovers.

This was by far Duke basketball’s best performance of the season. It’s great that the No. 21 Blue Devils will enter their holiday hiatus on a high note. Hopefully, they’ll use this time to rest and continue to improve as they enter the grind that is the ACC schedule.

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