THE CONTENTS: No. 6 (for now) Duke heads north to take on Boston College at 5:30 at Silvio O. Conte Forum. You can see the game on FSN South with Tim Brando and Mike Gminski and hear it on 620 AM.
THE EXPOSITION: The Blue Devils (20-4, 7-3) are coming off the midweek loss to No. 3 North Carolina at home, their third consecutive Wednesday loss. Duke now has as many ACC and regular-season losses as it did last season.
The Eagles (18-8, 6-5) have had a bit of an up-and-down season. They won at North Carolina in the ACC opener, and then lost four straight, including one to Harvard. BC responded by winning five in a row, but has now lost two consecutive games at Wake Forest and at home to Clemson.
The newest member of the ACC is 1-9 all-time against the Blue Devils, including an 0-5 mark in conference play.
THE PROTAGONISTS: For one half Wednesday, Duke played its best basketball of the season. The Blue Devils scored 52 points (fresh off a half in which they scored 49 against Miami) while shooting 62 percent from the floor. It was our best glimpse this season of what the offense can be when everyone clicks at the same time.
The problem was that in the second half, nobody clicked. When the first couple three-pointers rimmed out, you couldn’t help but feel that it wasn’t going to end well in Cameron.
For the first time this season, though, the offense isn’t really the concern. The Blue Devils were run off the floor in the second half by Ty Lawson, who simply couldn’t be guarded by anyone dressed in white. Now they get to face the only other ACC point guard with speed comparable to Lawson in Tyrese Rice, who is actually a better scorer than Lawson. It will be interesting to see how Duke adjusts its defense to take on Rice. In the past, the Blue Devils had Lance Thomas pressure Rice in the backcourt and force the ball out of his hands (Thomas was usually guarding former Eagle John Oates in these games, and Duke had no problem leaving Oates open for a few seconds). At the same time, the Blue Devils have been switching pretty much every screen on the perimeter this season, which is how guys like Thomas and David McClure got styuck on Lawson one-on-one Wednesday night. And as good as those guys have been defensively, they had no chance in that matchup.
So what does Duke do Sunday? I’d like to see the Blue Devils fight through screens more to avoid mismatches on the perimeter, at least until Rice makes them pay with quick-release threes off the screen. It’s another game where Nolan Smith is going to be more importantly defensively than Greg Paulus will be offensively.
THE ANTAGONISTS: Rice, Rice, Rice. That’s what you need to know about the Eagles. Much like Toney Douglas at Florida State, Tyrese Rice is essentially Boston College’s whole team. Quick: Name two other Eagles. Exactly.
Those other guys include forward Joe Trapani, who leads the team in rebounds and is second in scoring, and Rakim Sanders (Sanders being one of the two other players I was able to name when my roommate challenged me to the above question). Surprisingly to me, BC does have four guys who average in double figures and the Eagles have scored 76 points per game. They are, on the other hand, surrendering 71.
THE CONFLICT: Can Duke stop Tyrese Rice? It’s that simple.
WHAT THE LOCAL MEDIA ARE SAYING: From Ken Tysiac of the News & Observer:
[Rice] will face an opponent that's still trying to find its identity, particularly at point guard, even though just six games remain on its regular-season schedule.
WHAT THE ELITIST NORTHEAST MEDIA ARE SAYING: From Jessica Isner, sports editor of the BC Heights:
Now, sitting at 6-5 in conference play with five games remaining in the regular season, every single contest is swathed in dire necessity. As the pressure mounts, captain Tyrese Rice and his young cohorts have cracked little by little - first against Wake Forest and then in an 87-77 home loss against No. 12 Clemson. Their resolve is weakening; BC has proven that it can come out of the gates strong, but it cannot seem to maintain enough poise to finish the job. The second half is killing the Eagles, and it could very well kill their NCAA dreams if something doesn't change on Sunday afternoon at 5:30....Whatever the reason for the [Clemson] loss, the implications are big: Now, an already formidable match-up against Duke becomes a go-big-or-go-home must-win. If BC can knock off the Blue Devils, it will boast a 7-5 conference record heading into its last four games, all of which are winnable - and, obviously, a win against Duke surely erases some of the lingering sting from losses to Harvard and St. Louis.
AND YET, THE TOP STORY IN THE BC HEIGHTS IS…: Noam Chomsky criticizing America. It's about time Chomsky reinvented his rhetoric--Radiohead style.
BC'S TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK: I’ve said it all season, even after the UNC win: Boston College will get a better-than-deserved seed in the National Invitational Tournament.
TIM’S FAVORITE PLAYER IN BC HISTORY IS…: As tempted as I am to go with Oates, Troy Bell, or Scoonie Penn (before he transferred to Ohio State), I’m going old-school with power forward Danya Abrams, who helped spearhead the Eagles’ second-round upset of North Carolina in the 1994 NCAA Tournament.
THE BEST MOMENT IN BC BASKETBALL HISTORY IS…: The second-round upset of North Carolina in the 1994 NCAA Tournament. It ended the Tar Heels’ title defense and something like 16 straight appearances in the Sweet 16. (Abrams is the guy all the way on the right in the picture.)
THE BEST MOMENT IN BC SPORTS HISTORY IS…: Umm…Flutie to Phelan? Ever heard of it?
THE DENOUEMENT: Duke makes the necessary defensive adjustments to ensure that Rice doesn’t beat them singlehandedly (he scored 28 with seven assists last year, and it wasn’t enough). Rice will get his, but the other Eagles don’t provide enough support offensively. The Blue Devils’ O finds the median between Wednesday’s first half and its second, led as usual by Gerald Henderson.
THE VERDICT: Duke, 79-66.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.