The 5th-ranked Duke Blue Devils currently sit at 9-2 with ACC play looming as the program will play its second ACC contest of the season at Georgia Tech this Saturday (12:00pm ET, ACC Network).
After a tough non-conference slate where Duke faced off against ranked opponents in four of its first eight games of the season, the competition has faded a bit with most of the Blue Devils' remaining non-con games being mostly against vastly inferior opponents.
Duke picked up a nice victory on the road against Louisville, then returned home for its final two non-con games before ACC play heats up.
The Blue Devils took down Incarnate Word 72-46 and then George Mason 68-47.
Despite winning the games easily and running away in the second half in each, Duke struggled offensively in the first half in both of these games, keeping both UIW and the Patriots in the game at the halftime break.
Against George Mason, the Blue Devils scored just 25 points in the first half on just 9-of-33 shooting from the field. Against Incarnate Word, Duke mustered just 28 points in the first 20 minutes.
The Blue Devils had no issue expanding the lead in the second half, but the first half struggles against poor opponents is hoped to not become a consistent issue in the Blue Devils' offense.
There's no issues with being a second half type of team, which Duke has proven to be all season. But, even though the ACC is weak, a mediocre first half could become problematic if an opponent is having a better night than usual offensively.
"I think some of that, our guys are putting pressure on themselves, I want them to relax and shoot their open ones with confidence. But, obviously we have some work to do there," Jon Scheyer said in his postgame press conference after the win against George Mason.
With such a young team that's been tested so much early on in the season, it can be difficult to have consistent carryover. The Blue Devils earned a four-day break before the matchup against Georgia Tech, which is much needed.
Duke has such an elite defense that even when the offense struggles, the defense can keep them in the game against anyone. The Blue Devils just don't want to get caught not making shots on a night where a weaker team is having a "better than expected" type of night in terms of offensive production.