Nearly two weeks after its last game, a shocking loss to Boston College, No. 4 Duke rebounded with a dominant 104-40 win against Evansville, the No. 1 three point shooting team in the country.
The Blue Zone gives three key takeaways and stats and looks forward for the Blue Devils:
Three key takeaways:
1. Duke defended the three ball well
Heading into Wednesday, there were some palpable concerns about Duke's perimeter defense after giving up 15 threes against Boston College and ranking No. 270 in the nation in percent of points on three pointers allowed. The Blue Devils held the Purple Aces to shoot just 1-of-7 from deep in the first half and took a 58-18 halftime lead before finishing the game allowing them to shoot just 35.7 percent from deep.
2. Duke heats up from beyond the arc
Even with sharpshooters Gary Trent Jr. and Grayson Allen, the Blue Devils have been inconsistent from deep, including an 8-for-30 finish against Boston College. But Trent and Duke heated up from beyond the arc, with Trent making all three of his treys while Duke finished 16-of-26. After struggling early in the season, Trent has picked up his play from deep, making 13 of his last 22 shots from long distance. Allen also finished the night 4-of-5.
3. Wendell Carter Jr. doesn't record a foul
Carter Jr. has struggled mightily with staying on the court at times this season, but he had no issues Wednesday. For the second straight game, Carter didn't record a single foul, dropping an astounding 27 points in 18 minutes and nailing four 3-pointers. Although the Purple Aces were undersized, it can only be encouraging for head coach Mike Krzyzewski, who saw Carter average four fouls per game in the four contests before Boston College.
Three key stats:
1. 39-2 margin on points on turnovers
The Blue Devils forced an astounding 21 turnovers—and certainly didn't fail to take advantage, scoring 39 points off them to the Purple Aces' two. Duke did a good job of limiting turnovers—it totaled just five and no one had more than one.
2. 64 point margin of victory
According to ESPN's Jeff Borzello, Duke's 64-point margin of victory was the fourth largest ever in the Krzyzewski era. This comes just two games after beating St. Francis by 57 points and setting a single-game program record with 34 assists.
3. 42-3 run
The Blue Devils went on an astounding 42-3 run over 13 minutes between the two halves to push them ahead for good. The Purple Aces scored just a free throw and a dunk during that span.
Looking forward
Although Evansville certainly wasn't top-tier competition, it has to be encouraging for Krzyzewski to see his team respond so well after its stunning loss to Boston College. The 3-point defense was solid against the nation's statistically-best 3-point team and Carter was able to stay out of foul trouble, two of the biggest Achilles heels of the team. Heading into their first home ACC matchup against No. 24 Florida State Dec. 30, Blue Devil fans should be optimistic about the team's defense and its ability to grow as the season goes on.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.