#3 Duke Blue Devils (15-2, 7-0 ACC) vs. Boston College Eagles (9-8, 1-5 ACC)
Saturday, Jan. 18 • 8 p.m. ET
Conte Forum (8,606) • Chestnut Hill, MA
TV: ESPN
Radio: Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD
The No. 3 team in the nation, Duke Blue Devils hit the road, visiting Boston College on Saturday, Jan. 18.
Broadcast Information
TV/Video Stream ESPN
Play-by-Play Dave O’Brien
Analyst Cory Alexander
Producer Sean Jackson
Director Bonnie Reilly
Radio Blue Devil Sports Network
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 162 or 193
This Series
Overall Duke leads, 29-3
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 14-0
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 14-0
In Chestnut Hill, MA Duke leads, 11-2
at Conte Forum Duke leads, 11-2
Neutral Sites Duke leads, 4-1
Last Meeting @Duke 80, BC 65 (Feb. 10, 2024)
Boston College Eagles
Boston College enters the weekend with a 9-8 record and a conference record of 1-5, they are currently 15th in the ACC. The Eagles rank fifth in the ACC in rebound margin (+3.5) and fourth in offensive rebounds per game (11.8).
Donald Hand Jr., a 6-5 sophomore guard, tops the Eagles in scoring (14.8 ppg), leads the ACC and ranks 18th nationally in free-throw percentage (.911), and is 12th in the conference in rebounding (7.0 rpg). Chad Venning, a 6-9, 270-pound graduate transfer from St. Bonaventure, is second in the league in field goal percentage (.556) and sixth in blocked shots (24 total /1.4 bpg), while adding 12.4 points per contest – second on the team. Elijah Strong rounds out the double figure scorers for BC at 10.5 points per game.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke has won 11 straight games, the second-longest active winning streak in the nation. Duke’s 11-game win streak matches the longest by the Blue Devils since the start of the 2017-18 season. Duke’s 7-0 start in ACC play is the best by the Blue Devils since the 2007-08 season (10-0). The Blue Devils rank second in the country in scoring margin (+21.6), fifth in field goal percentage defense (.366), sixth in scoring defense (59.3), 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.70), 15th in rebound margin (+8.6), 16th in three-pointers per game (10.6) and 26th in assists per game (17.3) – all top marks in the ACC. Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-seven in both offensive (3rd) and defensive efficiency (2nd), according to KenPom. Duke is the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (80.9) and hold its opponents to fewer than 60 points per game (59.3).
Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, tops Duke in points (318), rebounds (140), assists (69), steals (26) and blocked shots (20). Second on the Blue Devils in scoring at 13.4 per game, Kon Knueppel exploded for a season-high 25 points in Duke’s win over Miami on Tuesday night, connecting on 9-of-11 from the field and 6-of-8 from long distance. Knueppel has made at least two 3-pointers in six consecutive games, including four games in that stretch with at least three triples. His six treys versus Miami are a season high. Junior guard Tyrese Proctor rounds out the double figure scorers for the Blue Devils at 10.5 per game, he also delivers 2.2 assists per game. Proctor is shooting 41% from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils as a team are shooting over 40% from 3 in conference play.
*Duke will be without Maliq Brown for the foreseeable future due to a knee injury suffered against Notre Dame.
Stats Comparison
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 17 | 40.0 | 28.4 | 58.8 | .482 | 17.8 | 30.7 | .579 | 10.6 | 28.1 | .377 | 13.6 | 17.9 | .757 | 11.2 | 28.5 | 39.7 | 17.3 | 6.8 | 3.7 | 10.2 | 15.4 | 80.9 |
| Boston College | 17 | 40.3 | 25.1 | 58.1 | .432 | 18.8 | 40.1 | .470 | 6.2 | 18.0 | .346 | 14.2 | 19.3 | .738 | 11.8 | 24.6 | 36.4 | 11.2 | 4.9 | 3.8 | 12.2 | 18.6 | 70.6 |
Stats Comparison (CONFERENCE)
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 7 | 40.0 | 29.6 | 56.6 | .523 | 18.7 | 29.9 | .627 | 10.9 | 26.7 | .406 | 13.7 | 17.1 | .800 | 8.7 | 27.1 | 35.9 | 19.1 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 8.7 | 14.6 | 83.7 |
| Boston College | 6 | 40.0 | 24.0 | 57.0 | .421 | 16.8 | 38.7 | .435 | 7.2 | 18.3 | .391 | 14.2 | 19.0 | .746 | 9.5 | 20.7 | 30.2 | 11.5 | 4.5 | 2.5 | 12.8 | 19.5 | 69.3 |
Duke Projected Starters
PG Sion James 6’6, 220lbs – Grad Transfer
SG Tyrese Proctor 6’6, 183lbs – Junior
SF Kon Knueppel 6’7, 217lbs – Freshman
PF Cooper Flagg 6’9, 205lbs – Freshman
C Khaman Maluach 7’2, 250lbs – Freshman
Boston College Projected Starters
G Joshua Beadle 6’3, 180lbs – Grad Student
G Dion Brown 6’3, 185lbs – Junior
G Donald Hand Jr 6’5, 210lbs – Sophomore
F Elijah Strong 6’8, 225lbs – Sophomore
F Chad Venning 6’9, 270lbs – Grad Student
Final Thoughts
Boston College doesn’t defend the bucket particularly well. Both Miami and Syracuse utilized straight-line drives to the basket pretty effectively against the BC defense with very little resistance. The Blue Devils could have a field day going inside to Khaman Maluach as I think the Eagles are going to expend the entirety of their efforts defending the 3-point line.
In the one game that Boston College won, in conference, they overcame a 19 pt deficit against the Hurricanes by going into the paint with Chad Venning who scored 17 points, on 7-10 shooting. Venning is a bit undersized height wise at just 6’9, but he throws his weight around well. Venning is listed at 270lbs but could easily be 280. If BC can run Duke off of the 3-point line and force tough 2’s they can keep the game tight by working the paint.
It goes without saying Duke needs to control the boards, that is how they end this game quickly, not allowing second chance points and taking good care of the basketball by valuing possessions. Duke has come out strong as of late and if they can manage to do that again, Coach Scheyer will be able to expand his rotation. Duke, again, will be without Maliq Brown, so this game could be a good opportunity for Patrick Ngongba to get extended minutes.
