Beyond the arc: Duke basketball vs. East Carolina

After hitting its first 11 attempts from the field, No. 6 Duke (4-1) had to hold on for dear life against a surging East Carolina (4-1) squad, knocking off the Pirates 83-74 Tuesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Rodney Hood led the way for the Blue Devils with 30 points, and Quinn Cook added 14 points and 10 assists.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Disciplined perimeter defense: Duke held East Carolina to just 5-of-14 3-point shooting on the evening, but still struggled to keep the Pirates out of the lane. East Carolina was able to get to the rim for a number of easy buckets. Fifteen turnovers forced by the Blue Devils is a good takeaway from this game, however.
• Rebound and run: Despite losing the rebounding battle 37-34, Duke had no shortage of transition opportunities. The Blue Devils pushed the ball every chance they got, especially in the first half when they had most of their offensive success.
  
• More aggression from sophomore starters: Amile Jeferson didn't see much action, playing just 12 minutes and scoring six points by hitting all three of his shot attempts and grabbing five rebounds. Rasheed Sulaimon was on the floor for a good portion of the second half and was aggressive on both ends of the floor. Although he shot just 1-of-6 on the evening, Sulaimon got to the line six times and picked up two steals on the defensive end.

Three key plays:

• 19:50, second half: Michael Zangari takes a feed from Paris Campbell and throws down a dunk to cut Duke's lead to single digits in the opening moments of the second half. This bucket started a 7-2 run that cut East Carolina's deficit to just six points two minutes later.

• 4:51, second half: After going just 1-of-2 from the charity stripe on the previous play, Jabari Parker stands up to Pirate forward Brandan Stith, forcing the miss inside. Parker then grabbed the rebound and bolted down court, going coast-to-coast for a thunderous dunk that caused the Pirates to use their final timeout and gave Duke a 69-64 lead.

• 2:09, second half: Prince Williams slices through the lane and beats Rodney Hood off the dribble, but Parker is there for the rejection. After the ECU inbound pass, Parker swats away Williams again. On the ensuing possession, Hood drew the fifth foul on Campbell and hit a pair to stretch Duke's lead to 77-70.

Three key stats:

• Rodney Hood shoots 12-of-12 from the free-throw line: Hood was a big part of the reason why the Blue Devils shot 77.4 percent from the charity stripe against East Carolina. Knocking down all 12 of his free throw opportunities, Hood kept Duke moving in the second half even as its offense struggled.
• Duke scores just six bench points: The Blue Devils stuck with their starters for most of the game. Tyler Thornton was the only Duke player to accumulate more than 11 minutes off the bench, and the Blue Devils did not see the scoring production from its reserves that they had in recent games.
  
• Six blocks for Jabari Parker: The freshman from Chicago continues to light it up on both ends of the floor, and did so against the Pirates to the tune of six blocked shots. One of Parker's highlights from this game was his rejections on back-to-back shots late in the game that helped Duke seal the victory.
  

And the Duke game ball goes to... Rodney Hood
Hood was the spark that kept the Blue Devils going in the second half, scoring 21 of his 30 points and getting to the line 12 times in the game's final 20 minutes. Accounting for more than half of Duke's scoring in the second half, Hood's competitive drive showed through as the Pirates tried to make a comeback. The redshirt sophomore captain sat for less than one minute in total.

And the East Carolina game ball goes to... Akeem Richmond
Richmond always seemed to be there when the Pirates needed a big shot, hitting three jumpers from beyond the arc to spearhead East Carolina's attempt at a second-half comeback. His play was a major reason why the Pirates found themselves in this game late.