While much of the focus on Duke basketball has centered on the Blue Devil's much improved front court (specifically Brian Zoubek) and senior Jon Scheyer's remarkable start to the season, the Blue Devil's excellent free throwing shooting has flown under the radar. The Blue Devil have shot 76 percent from the charity stripe this season (15th in all of college basketball) with Scheyer, Andre Dawkins, and Lance Thomas all shooting above 80 percent. Thomas' 81.5 clip is even better when you consider that the senior co-captain had not shot above 60 percent in any of his first three years at Duke.
However, with the exception of Thomas, Duke's front court has struggled. Miles Plumlee has made just 14 of 24 free throws (58.3 percent), his brother Mason Plumlee is 6 of 11 (54.5 percent), and Zoubek is 12 of 25 from the line (48 percent). Zoubek's low percentage is rather bewildering considering that he shot 82.8 percent last year.
Nevertheless, this Blue Devil squad is shooting better than last year's team which converted on 72.8 percent of its attempts. Duke has not shot this well from the free throw line since the 2005-2006 season when the team shot 76.1 percent.
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