The Blue Devils came out strong against BC last night, so much so that Boston College called a timeout less than four minutes into the game after a driving layup by Boozer put Duke in front, 11-0. A layup by Boston College at the 14:59 mark gave the visitors their first points of the night, after 13 unanswered by Duke to begin the game. The Blue Devils dominated the half, going in at the break with a 42 to 27 lead. Cam Boozer, Isaiah Evans, and Patrick Ngongba powered Duke to a lead they would never relinquish.
The second half was one for the trash pile, as neither team could get going. It was, in a word, messy. Each team had as many made shots as they did turnovers, and only 47 total points were scored in the half between them. Neither team eclipsed 40% shooting, and only 2 3-pointers were made in the entire second half (none by Duke), and only 15 shots saw the bottom of the net.
Does it mean anything?
Does it mean that there’s been some slippage? That is hard to really say, but my instincts tell me no. Jon Scheyer was asked the obvious question of whether his players were looking past BC after building a big lead. The Duke coach denied it strongly. I’m not certain he even believes that. I believe it was a combination of things. Yes, there’s no doubt there was a break in concentration for Duke, but also, by the metrics, Boston College is a good defensive team – they had some part in Duke’s flat half, banking on Duke missing open 3’s – which they are prone to doing.
Part of coaching is not only coaching your players but also coaching against human nature. It behooves Duke to use this as a teachable moment, and it was apparent in Jon Scheyer’s postgame that he was irked to a certain extent, but also, being the competitor he is, he loves the challenge of this being a lesson for his team. The Duke vs UNC matchup is always the most hyped game in the Triangle, and it’s hard not to walk past students camping out or the extra media attention, the electricity, the tension. It’s a natural occurrence that hardly speaks badly about this team or this staff. Even the team down the road, who built a 30-point lead against Syracuse, saw their lead evaporate in the second half. I think both coaches will flatly just blame themselves for it, but we all know this is commonplace during rivalry week. The key for Duke is to not let the sour taste of a bad half bleed over to Chapel Hill.