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Duke Pulls Away From Boston College In The Second Half To Win 72-61

A solid effort to close out a tough stretch for Duke

By JD King
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COLLEGE BASKETBALL: FEB 12 Duke at Boston College
 CHESTNUT HILL, MA - FEBRUARY 12: Boston College Eagles guard Jaeden Zackery (3) and Duke Blue Devils guard Trevor Keels (1) in action during a college basketball game between Duke Blue Devils and Boston College Eagles on February 12 2022, at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA.
Photo by M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The one thing that we thought we’d see from BC Saturday, and they had plenty of it, was heart. The Eagles were outclassed but they never stopped playing hard and despite losing 72-61. They competed to the final whistle. The Blue Devils were up by 21 with 7:13 left and the Eagles cut it back to 11 at the final buzzer.

In particular, Boston College got outstanding efforts from James Karnik and Makai Ashton-Langford who didn't back down in the face of Duke’s superior athleticism.

But Duke still prevailed and not simply because of superior athleticism. The Blue Devils played hard and certainly had to work hard to match BC’s intensity.

But they did.

Duke won partly because Paolo Banchero was a powerful presence with 16 points and 14 boards and partly because Duke outscored BC 21-3 on three pointers.

But the Blue Devils also hit the boards hard, with 41 overall and 13 offensive to BC’s 31 and 11.

Duke started slow perhaps because of fatigue. With four games in eight days, it was to be expected to some extent and it showed early.

Later though Duke was much more effective. Wendell Moore, who had a really scary moment in the Clemson game when he essentially fell 8-10 feet miraculously without an injury after being undercut by David Collins on a breakaway dunk attempt, was 4-5 on threes.

Trevor Keels was again solid, hitting 5-7 with four rebounds and two assists. But he and Moore each had four of Duke’s thirteen turnovers.

Given that Duke had to slot in two makeup games since January 31st (Clemson and Notre Dame, both on the road) the Blue Devils really performed very well in this stretch.

Now they return home to face a vastly improved Wake Forest team on Tuesday and then it’s another four days until FSU comes to town.

Jim will be along soon with his take.

Poll

Player Of The Game vs. Boston College

This poll is closed

  • 17%
    Wendell Moore
    (78 votes)
  • 1%
    AJ Griffin
    (5 votes)
  • 70%
    Paolo Banchero
    (311 votes)
  • 1%
    Mark Williams
    (8 votes)
  • 0%
    Jeremy Roach
    (3 votes)
  • 2%
    Theo John
    (10 votes)
  • 1%
    Bates Jones
    (6 votes)
  • 0%
    Jaylen Blakes
    (2 votes)
  • 4%
    Trevor Keels
    (18 votes)
441 votes total Vote Now

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