Beyond the arc: Duke basketball vs. Alabama

No. 6 Duke (6-1) emerged victorious against Alabama (3-2) in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off, winning by the score of 74-64. With Rodney Hood plagued by foul woes, it was Matt Jones who provided an offensive spark off of the Blue Devil bench. The Crimson Tide were led by junior forward Nick Jacobs, who matched a career-high with 18 points at Madison Square Garden.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Force low-percentage shots: Following the putrid defensive effort on Sunday, Duke sported a different starting lineup against Alabama, starting defensive specialists Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton in place of Amile Jefferson and Rasheed Sulaimon. The Blue Devils forced 11 turnovers in the first half and held Alabama to below 35 percent shooting en route to a minimal 22-point effort. In the second half, Duke allowed more layups and dunks, but still held the Crimson Tide to just 40.4 percent shooting on the game, as well as holding the perimeter attack to just two treys on the game.
• Improve defense in the paint: Duke's emphasis on help defense and clogging the paint was notable immediately, as the Blue Devils forced three charges on Trevor Releford in the first half alone. In the second half, the attention waned somewhat, and Duke fouled more frequently and allowed more offensive rebounds—the Crimson Tide had 11 in the game. Rodney Hood and Hairston both fouled out while battling in the key, but Duke was able to cope with a smaller lineup for the few minutes remaining in the game.
• Learn to play with a lead: Although this didn't seem like it'd be an issue with the way the Blue Devils started, they managed to find themselves with a double-digit lead at halftime. Duke's lead swelled to 18 at one point, but the Blue Devils still had to sweat it out over the final 12 minutes. Duke struggled against the full-court pressure that the Crimson Tide provided, and the 19 turnovers on the part of the Blue Devils allowed Alabama to stay in the game. Still, Duke's defensive tenacity forced Crimson Tide turnovers and allowed the squad keep its nose in front through the second half. It wasn't pretty, but by recent standards, this was a walk in the park.

Three key plays:

• 10:43, first half: Defense was clearly a point of emphasis following the Vermont game, and the Blue Devils came out firing on that end, holding Alabama to just 12 points over the opening eight minutes of the game. Unfortunately, Duke only mustered five points over this same stanza, starting 1-11 from the field. However, Matt Jones came off the bench to hit back-to-back triples from the right corner, the second with 10:43 left in the first, to jump-start the Blue Devils offense. Led by Jones' initial 6-0 run, Duke continued on to outscore the Crimson Tide 28-10 over the rest of the first half.
• 14:52, second half: With Duke threatening to pull away in the second half with a 46-28 lead, Hood picked up his fourth foul and had to head to the bench. In the ensuing minutes, Alabama made its first push in a while, using a full-court press to force turnovers. The Crimson Tide went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to single digits for the first time in the second half.
• 1:57, second half: After Quinn Cook had his layup attempt blocked, Alabama had an opportunity to fast-break and cut the Duke lead to four or five. However, with Algie Key searching for his point guard near mid-court, Tyler Thornton stepped in and intercepted a cross-court pass and streaked to the basket. Thornton laid the ball in to give Duke a nine-point lead and essentially put the game out of reach.

Three key stats:

• Duke's first half shooting: The summary statistic, a typical if substandard 12-for-29 (41.4 percent), doesn't lend justice to the bipolar nature of Duke in the opening period. The Blue Devils started 1-11 (9.1 percent) from the field, tallying only five points over the first eight and a half minutes. But Duke finally heated up, hitting 11 of its next 16 (68.8 percent) as part of a 28-8 run—a run that gave Duke a lead it would never relinquish.
• 40.4 percent shooting for Alabama: After allowing Vermont to torch them for 64.8 percent shooting, almost any number would have been an improvement for the Blue Devils. Still, they made a monumental improvement on Wednesday, limiting Alabama to sub-40 percent shooting for most of the game. The Duke guards, much-maligned for their poor showing against Vermont, did a superb job limiting Trevor Releford and Levi Randolph to below their season averages.
• 19 Duke Turnovers: The primary reason Duke failed to pull away in the second half was a slew of turnovers. As Alabama dialed up the full-court pressure, the Blue Devils had no response, turning the ball over in the backcourt and often failing to convert for easy buckets on the other end. Hood, Cook, and Jabari Parker were the worst offenders, combining for 12 turnovers and only four assists.