Beyond the arc: Duke basketball vs. Notre Dame

In their conference opener and first true road game of the season, No. 7 Duke (11-3, 0-1 in the ACC) fell to Notre Dame (10-4, 1-0) 79-77 in a thriller on Saturday at Purcell Pavilion. The Blue Devils squandered a 60-50 lead because of poor execution on both ends of the court late in the game and the Irish capitalized by going on an 18-4 run and seizing control of the game led by senior point guard Eric Atkins. Duke’s freshman phenom Jabari Parker had his worst game of the season, putting up just seven points on 2-of-10 shooting and sitting on the bench with the game’s outcome in the balance because of his ineffectiveness on both ends of the court.

Even though junior guard Quinn Cook and redshirt sophomore forward Rodney Hood picked up the slack, combining for 49 points on 15-of-31 shooting, and the Blue Devils hit 12 3-pointers, Duke was demolished in the paint and unable to manufacture easy baskets late in the contest. The game was decided when Hood, with Duke trailing by two with fewer than 20 seconds left, drove baseline, got caught in the air, and threw it directly to Notre Dame freshman Demetrius Jackson, giving the Irish their fifth straight win over a top-10 team at home and giving their season new life despite the loss of leading scorer Jerian Grant, recently lost for the season because of academic violations.

Revisiting the three keys to the game:

• Re-energize Rodney: The redshirt sophomore came out of his recent slump against the Irish, knocking down huge jumpers early and often and attacking the basket when given the opportunity. Hood hit back-to-back 3-pointers to go on a solo 6-0 run at the end of the first half, giving the Blue Devils a 37-35 halftime lead and momentum going into the final frame. He finished with 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting and made several big plays late in the game to keep Duke alive before his gaffe effectively ended Duke’s comeback hopes. Despite the late error, the Blue Devils definitely re-energized their second-best player against the Irish and will likely look to continue getting him involved early in games as conference play continues.

• Play solid team defense: Duke’s team defense was simply abysmal on Saturday afternoon, with all of the progress made in recent weeks seemingly disappearing against an efficient Irish offense. The Blue Devils frequently lost Notre Dame’s cutters late in the shot clock and off in-bounds plays and struggled to slow down the Irish in the paint. The Irish put up 79 points without their best offensive player, shot 52.6 percent from the field and committed just six turnovers, getting whatever they wanted offensively because of Atkins’ ability to handle Duke’s pressure. If Notre Dame hadn’t missed 11 free throws, the Irish could have put up even better offensive numbers—Duke’s team defense and communication was not of the caliber necessary to earn a road conference win.

• Handle the hostile environment: For most of the game, the Blue Devils were able to handle the hostile environment because of hot outside-shooting. However, late in the game, when the Irish made their game-changing run, Duke seemed to struggle with the crowd noise and frequently failed to communicate well on both ends of the court. Even though many of Notre Dame’s students were absent because of winter break, the Blue Devils didn’t handle the hostile environment and adversity well late in the game, one of the reasons they will likely fall out of the top-10 for the first time in several years.

Three key plays:

• 0:03, first half: Hood hits a step-back 3-pointer to give Duke a 37-35 halftime lead and cap a personal 6-0 run that at the time seemed like it could change the game. The Blue Devils fed off of Hood’s aggressiveness when building their 60-50 lead before suffering through the ill-timed dry spell that fueled Notre Dame’s comeback win.

• 11:35, second half: Graduate student Andre Dawkins comes off a screen and nails a 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils the 60-50 advantage and their 12th made 3-pointer of the game. Duke’s final trey seemed to indicate that the Blue Devils were beginning to fire on all cylinders—it was Dawkins’ first made 3-pointer of the contest—but the Blue Devils inexplicably failed to score for the next 4:17 of the game.

• Notre Dame outscores Duke 44-16 in the paint: The Irish made Duke play the style that Notre Dame wanted the Blue Devils to play, a methodical, halfcourt style that gave the Irish the advantage. Notre Dame controlled the paint and kept Duke out of transition, allowing just two fastbreak points, executing head coach Mike Brey’s gameplan to perfection and taking Parker out of the game by playing physical defense inside and limiting Duke’s transition opportunities by frequently attacking the Blue Devil defense in the paint—even when the Irish didn’t score inside, they kept Duke out of transition.

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

Even with his late error, Hood was by far the most aggressive Duke player throughout the game and combined with Cook to give the Blue Devils enough offense to come away with the win—Duke’s team defense had much more to do with the loss than Hood’s late turnover. Hood put up 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting, 5-of-10 from 3-point range and 6-of-6 from the charity stripe, a very impressive performance in his first road conference game as a Blue Devil and a good sign as Duke moves forward.

And the Notre Dame game ball goes to... Eric Atkins

Notre Dame’s senior point guard made everyone forget about Grant’s absence, finishing with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting and adding 11 assists against just two turnovers despite handling the ball almost exclusively for the Irish. Atkins sparked his team’s 18-4 run that changed the game and always seemed to find open cutters like senior forward Garrick Sherman and senior guard Pat Connaughton with precise passes just when the Blue Devils needed stops late in the game. He also provided leadership and poise late in the game when it looked like Duke was clawing its way back into the contest—Atkins’ play gives the Irish a chance to make some noise in ACC play after their signature victory.