Duke struggled in a 78-61 win against Southern, never able to pull away as expected. The Blue Zone gives three key takeaways, stats and plays, and looks forward for the Blue Devils:
Three key takeaways
1. Half-court offense struggles
Duke had been deadly in transition, with Trevon Duval pushing the ball up the court and either finishing himself or finding wide-open cutters or shooters. But Southern did a spectacular job of getting back on defense and limiting turnovers and preventing fast-break opportunities for the Blue Devils. When Duke was in the half-court set, the offense looked relatively stagnant and turned the ball over often.
2. Cold shooters
The poor shooting performance against Michigan State was overshadowed by Grayson Allen’s spectacular performance. However, the concerns are definitely present after a second straight struggle from Duke’s backcourt. Gary Trent continued his cold streak going 3-for-11 from the field and 2-for-6 from downtown, often missing wide-open looks. Meanwhile, Duval has yet to find his form outside of the paint, going 3-for-7 overall and 1-for-3 from deep. Allen also fell into a shooting slump, failing to hit a 3-pointer for the first time in nine games and shooting 33.3 percent from the field.
3. Rebounding
As has been a trend all season, the Blue Devils have absolutely dominated the boards. By pulling down offensive rebounds and getting second-chance points, Duke has been able to overcome poor-shooting percentages and is now averaging 12.2 more rebounds per game than its opponents. Both Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. notched double-doubles—they have combined for five on the young season.
Three key stats
1. 64.9 percent
Struggles from the charity stripe has been a disturbing trend for the Blue Devils. Friday's 64.9 percent performance was a season-high from the charity stripe—which would be problematic come conference play. Opposing teams may adopt a “Hack-A-Shaq” strategy and could benefit down the stretch if Duke cannot hit its free throws. Bagley, who has gone to the line 18 times, is shooting just 38.9 percent, while his frontcourt mate Carter is shooting 66.7 percent on 21 attempts. Duval has also failed to capitalize on these opportunities, converting on just 58.3 percent of his attempts.
2. Fifteen turnovers
Forced to operate primarily from the half-court, Duke had a season-high 15 turnovers. Many of the miscues were self-inflicted from poor passes to dropped balls as the offense never truly got into a rhythm until late in the first half. As more teams try to slow this potent offense by slowing the pace of the game down, the Blue Devils will need to a better job of running their half-court offense and taking care of the rock
3. Fifty-one rebounds
Duke outrebounded the Jaguars by 17, pulling down 51 boards, 19 of which came on the offensive end. The Blue Devils had three players who collected double-digit misses— Carter and Bagley both had 11 and Trent had 10. With one of the tallest teams in the country, Duke will look to keep up this pace and exploit smaller opponents.
Three key plays
1. Bagley block – Allen behind-the-back layup
With Duke leading just 30-27 with just under six minutes left in the first, Bagley emphatically sent a Jamar Sandifer jumper in the lane the other way, which Allen scooped up at half-court. He pressed up to the lane and made a sweet around-the-back adjustment to finish with his left hand. The play sparked an extended run that gave the Blue Devils a 10-point cushion entering the break.
2. Carter’s consecutive blocks
On four straight possessions, Carter swatted away Southern's shot attempts. Just a minute into the second half, he blocked a Jared Sam jumper. 32 seconds later, he disrupted another shot from Sam. Then he blocked Sandifer on two straight layup attempts. Carter had six blocks on the day.
3. Javin DeLaurier block
Although the game was already decided by that point, DeLaurier had an amazing block with 1:48 left in the game. Following a Jack White turnover, the sophomore forward chased down Mubashar Ali from behind a smashed the layup attempt into the backboard, making the Cameron Crazies erupt.
Looking forward
After a defining win against Michigan State, Duke was sluggish out of the gates and could not separate itself from the Jaguars, who had lost to Illinois by 47 points in their season opener. Although there should be no call for panic, there are some points of improvement that would go miles in developing this young team.
Look for improved performance at the charity stripe and more efficient half-court sets against Furman before the Blue Devils head to the PK80 tournament in Oregon, where they could play the likes of No. 8 Florida or No. 18 Gonzaga.
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