Duke basketball: 5 major takeaways from Blue Devils’ massive victory

Duke basketball takeaways in victory over Gonzaga: 

Duke is not afraid to put the ball in the hands of other players

Friday night was not one to remember for Jeremy Roach — well, at least the first 39 minutes were ones to forget.

As the Duke point guard struggled to get anything going against Gonzaga, it was the sophomore who had the basketball in his hands needing to find a clutch bucket to put the Blue Devils back up three points. And he did.

Roach was 2-for-12 from the field with 60 seconds left in regulation, but his driving layup off the glass with 48 seconds remaining gave Duke a three-point lead, the same margin it went on to win by.

Only scoring a total of nine points in the victory, it was Roach’s final three points that were the most critical and timely for the Blue Devils.

You would think Duke would have put the ball in the hands of Wendell Moore or Paolo Banchero or a post-up to Mark Williams or even Trevor Keels, who did not have his best offensive night.

Nope, it was the struggling point guard who nearly decided the game, which speaks to the trust Mike Krzyzewski has in Jeremy Roach and his entire team.