Beyond the arc: Recurring 3-point woes concerning for Duke

Duke started off slow against Furman but eventually rolled to a 92-63 home win Monday. The Blue Zone gives three key takeaways, stats and plays, and looks forward for the Blue Devils:

Three key takeaways: 

1.Marvin Bagley III got hot from the line

Entering Monday shooting just 38.9 percent from the free throw line, Bagley needed to prove that he could make free throws so teams don’t employ a “hack-a-Bagley” strategy to slow his production. He made positive strides in that direction, making 5-of-6 attempts from the charity stripe. As a whole, Duke didn’t make it to the line much, attempting just 13 free throws. 

2. What happened to Jordan Tucker?  

Entering the season as a highly-touted 4-star recruit, some predicted Tucker could play a key role off the bench as a 3-point sharpshooter. Instead, he’s played just six minutes all season and didn’t see the floor against Furman. Barring injuries ahead of him, Tucker is going to have to impress head coach Mike Krzyzewski a lot more in practice if he wants to play a role on the team. 

3. Alex O’Connell is going to play

The lanky freshman guard wasn't expected to make much of a difference this season for the Blue Devils, but O’Connell has burst on the scene as an impact player. Although he played just two minutes against Michigan State, he blew up for 10 points in 12 minutes against the Paladins and has been an efficient scorer when on the court. He could continue to see minutes in big games. 

After turning the ball over 15 times against Southern, the Blue Devils cleaned it up a bit against Furman with just 11 turnovers. No player had more than two—Duke had an 18-11 assist to turnover ratio. Despite struggling to shoot well from the field, Grayson Allen did well facilitating, racking up six assists. 

3. 29 percent 3-point shooting

As a team, Duke had really struggled to shoot from beyond the arc outside of Allen heading into Monday. Those concerns were not quelled, as the Blue Devils made just 5-of-17 3-pointers against an undersized Furman team. Gary Trent Jr. has still yet to find his shot, finishing just 1-of-3 from long distance despite an improve shooting day from inside the arc. 

Three key plays: 

1. Carter dunk, 8:58 remaining in the first half

Duke had just pulled past Furman, and Carter’s slam helped sustain the momentum. Up just three points, Allen forced a steal and passed it to Duval, who found Carter in transition for a dunk to rile up Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

2. Bagley dunk, 7:05 remaining in first half

Duke got off to a sluggish start for the second straight game, but Bagley helped bail it out. He scored 11 points in just over two minutes as part of a 20-6 run to help the Blue Devils pull ahead, including two on this spectacular isolation dunk off a feed from Trevon Duval. 

3. Javin DeLaurier block, 25.6 seconds remaining in first half

Although Duke had a 16-point lead heading into halftime here, DeLaurier found a way to make it into the highlight reels with a massive block from behind on Furman’s Clay Mounce.  

Looking forward

Although the Blue Devils eventually rolled to a dominant win, they will have to clean up their shooting and maintain their improvements from the free throw line in order to beat either No. 7 Florida or No. 17 Gonzaga in the PK80 tournament this weekend, assuming it gets that far. Duke certainly has the size and athleticism in the post, but its shaky outside shooting remains a concern going forward. 

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