You cannot say Boston College didn’t show up, their fans packed the Conte Forum and for a half of basketball Boston College looked the part. The Blue Devils were confounded time and time again in the first 10 minutes with both a lack of good defense and a lack of ability to finish at the rim. For BC, it was Chad Venning who threw his weight around taking it to Duke big man Khaman Maluach, scoring the first 6 points for Boston College. Venning would finish with a team high 19 points. The Eagles held Duke in check in the first half, with Duke only able to muster a 6 point lead, while allowing the home team to shoot 58% from the field. Duke built their slim lead off of BC’s turnovers, where they had a 5 point advantage (7-2).
Whatever incantation or potion Coach Jon Scheyer used at the half seemed to work as the Blue Devils came out on fire both offensively and defensively. Duke used the first 10 minutes of the second stanza to go on a 23-9 run, holding the Eagles to 3-13 and 0-5 from 3 during the run. Duke would push the lead to 27 on the back of Tyrese Proctor and Cooper Flagg, who had phenomenal games for the Blue Devils. The Blue Devils ultimately blew the doors off in Chestnut Hill 88-63.
Flagg, who had trouble finishing early in the first half but turned it on as the BC crowd made the mistake of chanting “overrated” at the freshman forward who would torch the Eagles. Flagg went video game mode scoring in every conceivable way against Boston College who did their best to try to out-physical the Blue Devils, only to find – that’s not going to work. The freshman forward scored a game high 28 points on 9-14 shooting, adding 4 assists 2 blocks and 2 steals. Flagg wasn’t the only Devil who had an explosive game as junior Tyrese Proctor, who served as the steadying influence for the Blue Devils in late clock situations, scored 20 points, hitting 7-12 shots, 3 of which were 3-pointers. Duke also got 16 bench points from freshman Isaiah Evans, who hit 4-9 from beyond the arc, helping Duke stretch their second half lead as the Eagles tried to claw back into the game.
The game for the Blue Devils really turned on the defensive end. After allowing the Eagles to shoot 58.3% in the first half, the Blue Devils clamped down, only allowing them to shoot 32% in the second half. The Blue Devils owned the boards with a 36-22 advantage. Duke only allowed 4 offensive rebounds to the Eagles, while the Blue Devils pulled down 9, resulting in a 14-7 advantage in second chance points. Duke’s bench outscored BC’s 26 to 13.
Team Notes
- Duke increased its winning streak to 12 straight games, the longest active winning streak in the nation.
- The 12-game winning streak is the longest by a Duke team under head coach Jon Scheyer. The last time the Blue Devils won 12 games in a row was during the 2014-15 campaign, when Duke reeled off 12 straight wins in a stretch spanning Jan. 31, 2015 to March 12, 2015.
- With the win, Scheyer is now 70-20 (.778) as head coach of the Blue Devils.
- Duke is now 5-0 in road games this season, the most games without a loss on the road to start a season since the 2018-19 season, when the Blue Devils won their first seven road contests.
- Saturday night extended Duke’s winning streak over Boston College to 10 games. The Blue Devils now lead the overall series, 30-3.
- Duke has won four straight at Conte Forum and are now 12-2 when playing in the arena.
- The third-ranked Blue Devils are now 305-92 (.768) in ACC regular-season games when ranked as a top-five team in the country.
- Saturday marked Duke’s 150th game when playing as the No. 3 team nationally. The Blue Devils now have a 123-27 (.820) ledger when ranked third in the AP top-25 poll.
- Duke turned in a 30-of-57 (.526) shooting performance from the field, marking the seventh consecutive game that the Blue Devils have finished at .500 or better from the field.
- After Boston College shot 14-of-25 (.583) in the first half, a season-high by a Duke opponent, the Blue Devils’ defense limited the Eagles to just 8-of-25 (.320) from the field in the second stanza.
- The Blue Devils won the rebounding battle, 36-22, and have out-rebounded 15 of their first 18 opponents this season.
- Duke collected 38 points in the paint, compared to 28 by the Eagles. The Blue Devils have out-scored the opposition in the paint in 16 of their 18 games and have posted a double-digit margin in that category 11 times this season.
- The Blue Devils held Miami to just three fast-break points. Duke opponents have logged single-digit fast-break points in all but two games this season.
- Duke’s defense limited Boston College to 63 points, and has held all but one unranked opponent under 65 points.
- The Eagles mustered just 29 points in the second half, becoming the 10th team overall, and fifth ACC foe, that Duke’s defense has held to 30 points or fewer in the second half this season.
- Duke shot 20-of-25 (.800) from the charity stripe and have made at least 20 free throws in two of its last three contests.
- With their six dunks on Saturday night, Duke is now out-dunking its opponents, 81-22, this season.
- Duke has now connected on at least one 3-pointer in 1,243 straight games, tied for the longest streak nationally.
Player Notes
- Cooper Flagg posted an all-around performance, pouring in 28 points, five rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals in 31 minutes.
- The freshman started the game 1-of-5 from the field, but shot 8-of-9 the rest of the way, finishing 9-of-14 (.643) from the field for the game, and added a 9-of-11 (.818) performance from the free throw line.
- Saturday marked Flagg’s ninth 20-point game, 16th game with at least five rebounds, 14th game with at least three assists, eighth game with at least two steals and eighth game with at least two blocks.
- Flagg is the first Duke player to record at least 10 points, four rebounds and four assists in four consecutive outings since Paolo Banchero and Wendell Moore Jr., did so during the 2021-22 season.
- Of Flagg’s nine 20-point games, five of them have been recorded in Duke’s first eight ACC contests.
- Tyrese Proctor also recorded a 20-point game, scoring exactly 20 on 7-of-12 (.583) shooting from the field, including three three-pointers.
- The junior has now made at least three shots from deep in eight games this season and 22 times in his career. When he reaches the threshold, Duke is 20-2 during his time as a Blue Devil.
- The 20 points are a season high for Proctor and his most since posting his career-high 24 at Louisville on Jan. 23, 2024.
- Isaiah Evans also reached double-figures, scoring 16 points in 21 minutes. The freshman made four three-pointers to aid his scoring total and added an assist.
- Sion James topped the Blue Devils with seven rebounds and six assists without committing a turnover, while adding six points.
- Mason Gillis reeled in six rebounds in 19 minutes of play. The six caroms set a new season high for the graduate and his 57th career game with at least five boards.
DUKE HEAD COACH JON SCHEYER
Opening Statement:
“I’m proud of our team tonight. I thought our second half was really good. Give Boston College a ton of credit. They came out very physical, very ready to play. And they knocked us back a little bit. I thought it was great for us to be in that environment, that experience. I thought for [Cooper Flagg], by the way, what a special turnout. This is as close as we’re going to get to Maine. And we’ve been here a lot, the representation of Duke fans has always been great. This was, I think, the best I’ve ever seen it. And I think a lot of it has to do with Maine. That was a pretty special thing to see. And obviously, he backed it up with his play. It’s easy to talk about the scoring. For me, it’s the blocks, the rebounds, the timely baskets, his feel for stepping up at the right time, the poise that he has throughout the game. I was really proud of Tyrese [Proctor]. Tyrese is coming off a couple games where he didn’t play necessarily his best, or really, he didn’t make shots. And as a player, when you’re not making shots, it’s easy to think about that. He’s been busting his butt every day working. And I thought he had a great overall game. The points came with his competitiveness, his defense, everything else that he did. A lot to learn from. A lot of things we can do better. But give Boston College credit for really scoring in our paint and making us work. I’m proud of our team for stepping up, especially in the second half.”
On Tyrese Proctor’s performance while handling foul trouble:
“Look, we were struggling there in that first half. They were scoring pretty easy. We weren’t. His baskets were huge for us. He picked up a second [foul], I’m typically more aggressive, but we found a good enough rhythm. I didn’t get him back in [in the first half]. I probably could have, and that’s something I’m going to look at. That’s on me. The good news is he was fresh for the start of second half, and I thought he had a really good energy to carry that forward.”
On the team’s defensive performance:
“They ended up with 28 points in the paint, I bet they had almost all of them in the beginning of the second half, those first few minutes, and then the first half. I think it was a combination of a lot of things. Our post defense has to be better. We have to just straight up guard the ball better. But most importantly, we weren’t moving five guys on the string like we have been. That’s something we have to get back to practice. We have to take a jump with that. I thought the difference from that point forward, whatever it was, 15 minutes to go in the second half, our connectivity was so much better. Our intention to protect the paint was really good. And because that we got separation.”
On learning how to use Cooper Flagg as the season goes along:
“The thing about [Cooper], you learn as the season goes on, but also, he just keeps getting better. He started off the year great, but he’s hit a new level of what he’s doing and his assertiveness. I don’t know how many guys I’ve coached, but he’s as good as any of them in terms of, wherever you put him, he’s going to do something really good. It’s just a matter of timing and situation and matchups and all that. The fact that you can put him wherever, it’s not just a scorer. It’s the fact that he’s going to make the right play. The trust that there is at such a high level. I think what he’s done, working at his game and then adjusting to the college game so quickly – he still should be in high school. For him to adjust that quickly, as an 18 year old, is as good as I’ve seen.”
FRESHMAN GUARD/FORWARD COOPER FLAGG
On if he expected the large turnout of family and friends: “Yeah, I think I expected it. I heard from a lot of people leading up. All the way back to sometime last year, there was people talking about coming to this game, so it was kind of expected. It was a huge turnout. I’m really grateful to have such a support system from the state of Maine.”
On if he felt any additional pressure playing close to home: “No, I wouldn’t say I felt any type of pressure. For me, it was more of just a blessing to be able to come out and see a lot of familiar faces in the crowd and people I knew. It gave me confidence more than anything.”
On what was going through his mind later in the game to cap off his performance: “I think there was, like you said, the moment. All the fans down there were really loud. Khaman [Maluach] had sat for a long time with those fouls, he came in, had a huge rebound and then hit me for the three. There’s a lot of energy, especially coming after that call, whenever that was. Just a learning experience to come back, stay focused and just knock down a shot.”
On his mindset in the second half to help the team get the offense going: “I think the biggest thing is that it was a really physical game. We went into halftime thinking about that and just coming out, being stronger with the ball and just playing more physical and ourselves.”
