Beyond the arc: Duke basketball vs. Florida Atlantic

The Blue Devils (2-1) bounced back after their first loss of the season and jumped on the Owls (1-2) early behind aggressive play from redshirt sophomore forward Rodney Hood, building early leads of 12-2 and 32-12 before eventually winning 97-65. Graduate student guard Andre Dawkins nailed five 3-pointers after sitting out a season ago and freshman forward Jabari Parker made Duke history by becoming the first Blue Devil player to ever score 20-plus points in his first three games. Parker finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Control the glass: The Blue Devils did a good job controlling the glass in the first half, out-rebounding the Owls 23-16 and limiting Florida Atlantic to four offensive rebounds en route to a 52-29 halftime lead. However, Duke's box-outs lost intensity in the second half, allowing the Owls to gather 12 offensive rebounds and out-rebound Duke 22-18 in the final frame. The Blue Devils showed better aggression rebounding, especially early in the game, but still need to improve on their consistency in this department because of their size disadvantage against most teams.
  

• Convert from the charity stripe: Behind Hood's strong play and insistence on getting to the basket, the Blue Devils improved their free throw percentage after a disappointing performance from the line against Kansas. Hood was 12-of-13 from the line and the Blue Devils were 17-of-24 as a team. Parker was 3-of-6, sophomore forward Amile Jefferson was 2-of-3 and reserve redshirt sophomore forward Alex Murphy was 0-of-2. For Hood, Parker and Jefferson, remaining aggressive attacking the basket and not shying away from potential struggles at the free throw line will be imperative for Duke to maintain balance going forward.
  

• Defend the paint: The Blue Devils showed better defensive discipline against the Owls and were much better at limiting penetration for much of the game. Florida Atlantic finished with 34 points in the paint, with 20 coming in the second half and many of those on put-backs following offensive rebounds. While the Owls failed to convert some of their easier opportunities in the paint, Duke showed more defensive awareness in the contest.
  

Three key plays:

• 13:20, first half: Dawkins makes his first 3-pointer as a Blue Devils since March, 2012 to give the Blue Devils an early 21-5 advantage and cause a ruckus in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was the first of five 3-pointers for Dawkins, who finished with 17 points in his first game seeing extensive playing time off the bench this season.
  

• 8:05, first half: Hood nails a jumper to cap an 18-5 run during which he scored 12 points. The jumper put Duke up 32-12 and essentially put the game away early; the lead never got below 19 points after that.
  

• 14:15, second half: Hood outdid Parker for the insane highlight of the evening, throwing down a monster left-handed put-back jam following his own miss to put the Blue Devils up 67-33 and reassert their dominance in the paint. The 34-point margin was Duke's largest lead of the game.
  

Three key stats:

• Parker commits one foul: Granted, Parker's one foul came after he missed a free throw and unwisely tried to wrestle the ball away from an Owl player, but he showed much better judgment than he did when he fouled out against Kansas. This allowed him to play 28 minutes and play with more force in the second half.
  

• Duke makes 12 more 3-pointers: The Blue Devils shot better than 50 percent from 3-point range again, going 12-of-23 led by Dawkins' performance; Dawkins was 5-of-8 from beyond the arc. With junior point guard Quinn Cook sporting an improved stroke, the Blue Devils should have one of the most prolific teams from 3-points range this season with Cook, Dawkins, Parker, Hood and sophomore shooting guard Rasheed Sulaimon capable of catching fire at any time.
  

• Hood commits zero turnovers: While being extremely aggressive attacking the basket and making plays can cause untimely turnovers and a breakdown in offensive efficiency for many players, this does not seem to be the case for Hood. Despite turning down many open jump shots to make more risky ventures into the paint, Hood remained just as efficient and powered Duke's offense in the paint. Hood's ability to attack efficicently takes a great deal of pressure off Parker.
  

And the Duke game ball goes to... Rodney Hood

While Dawkins and Parker are also worthy of the game ball, Hood's aggressiveness attacking the basket set a tone early that became contagious for the rest of the Blue Devils. Hood scored seven of Duke's first 12 points and lived at the free throw line, finishing with 28 points on just 11 field goal attempts because of his insistence on getting to the basket; after a subpar performance in Duke's loss to Kansas, Hood's assassin-like mentality was exactly what the Blue Devils needed to see. He stayed ahead of the entire Owls team on the scoreboard for much of the first half and finished with a career-high 28 points on 8-of-11 shooting and went 12-of-13 from the free throw line in just 26 minutes.


And the Florida Atlantic game ball goes to... Pablo Bertone

While many of the Owls seemed intimidated to start the game, Bertone, a senior Argentinian guard, did not. He frequently challenged Duke's defense with his penetration and movement off the ball and was the only offensive spark for the shell-shocked Owls early in the game. Despite being limited with foul trouble and having multiple shots rim out, he finished with 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting and 2-of-5 from 3-point range. His penetration allowed Florida Atlantic's big men to crash the offensive glass and convert their limited opportunities and his perimeter defense on sophomore guard Rasheed Sulaimon was effective as well.