The Duke basketball program now likely has the best resume in all of college basketball after it picked up a 66-60 victory on the road against No. 7 Michigan State on Saturday. The Blue Devils now own five high-major wins, including four over ranked opponents, and only one has come at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke freshman phenom Cameron Boozer has continued to look like the best player in the country, and although the Blue Devils have had their struggles offensively outside of their star rookie, they are still getting it done in big-time games. But the biggest takeaway from Duke's five marquee wins, and what should give the rest of the country nightmares, is that Duke hasn't looked anywhere near elite offensively, but it's still winning.
The Blue Devils have consistently looked like potentially the best defensive team in college basketball, as the length and switchability of Duke have caused opponents issues in every game this season. However, on the offensive side of the ball, the Blue Devils have had no consistency whatsoever outside of Boozer. It became a legitimate concern after Duke's win over No. 25 Arkansas on how much the team was relying on Cam Boozer for offense. Even with these struggles, the Blue Devils still haven't lost, and have won their five high-major games by an average margin of 8.6 points.
Duke basketball's offensive struggles while still winning every marquee game should give the rest of the country nightmares
Outside of Boozer, Duke hasn't really established a second option consistently. It should turn into Isaiah Evans, who was deemed one of the top breakout candidates on a national scale before the season, but he's been wildly inconsistent.
In Duke's five high-major games, Evans averaged 14 points per game on 39.3% shooting from the field and 34.2% shooting from three. Outside of Evans, Patrick Ngongba is the only other Blue Devil averaging double-digit scoring at 11.9 points per game.
And for Duke as a whole, its offensive numbers just haven't been all that great. The Blue Devils are shooting just 35.5% from three as a team (101st at KenPom) and 71% from the free throw line (199th at KenPom). It's been the defense, mixed with Boozer's single-handed dominance offensively, that's propelled the Blue Devils to these major victories. Duke has surrendered 70 or more points to a high-major foe just once so far, and that was to No. 21 Kansas.
As a whole, Duke has looked suspect offensively, and there's so much more to be desired from it outside of Boozer. But with all these issues and clearly so much more there with the talent on this roster, the rest of the country should be terrified that Duke is still winning these games fairly comfortably.