After falling to No. 2 Virginia Saturday, Duke rebounded and dealt Notre Dame its sixth straight loss Monday night with a 88-66 win. The Blue Zone gives three key takeaways and stats and looks forward for the Blue Devils:
Three key takeaways
1. The guards came back
After vanishing against the Cavaliers Saturday, Duke's backcourt exploded back onto the scene Monday. Gary Trent led the way with 22 points, more than the entire Blue Devil backcourt scored against Virginia. Save for an ugly outing against Virginia, Trent has been on fire as of late, especially from deep, and he continued that against the Fighting Irish with six 3-pointers.
Grayson Allen also bounced back with 18 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep, while Trevon Duval worked his way into the paint with ease and scored 12 points.
2. New weapon off the bench?
Jack White left the game to a standing ovation. In conference play. Against Notre Dame.
Not what many would have predicted coming into the season, but White came into his own in the most meaningful minutes he has ever played in a game. He was used much more frequently than Alex O'Connell off the bench, grabbing many contested rebounds and hitting a 3-pointer that helped spark Duke's decisive second-half run.
Perhaps he could see more time going forward as a reserve for head coach Mike Krzyzewski—time will tell.
3. It could be a long season for Notre Dame
Without preseason ACC Player of the Year Bonzie Colson, the Fighting Irish have looked lost. The defense had no answer on the perimeter or on the glass, getting outrebounded 43-27. They showed a palpable lack of size, although they were able to slow Marvin Bagley III for the most of the night.
Notre Dame also was punchless on offense, lacking any sort of identity and turning the ball over more than is ideal. It could be a very long season in South Bend.
Three key stats
1. Duke shoots 60 percent from deep
Led by Trent's 6-of-10 ledger from deep, Duke finished 12-of-20 from long range. Allen, Duval, Bagley and White all got in on the action after the Blue Devils had gone cold from deep against Virginia.
2. Allen scores 18 points
After a dud against the Cavaliers, Allen bounced back with his trademark fire, scoring 18 points and getting the crowd into the game in big moments. However, Allen has still yet to show up in a big game since Dec. 30 against Florida State, something to watch for going forward.
3. Fighting Irish 7-of-25 from long range
Notre Dame couldn't hit anything from deep, shooting a paltry 28.0 percent from 3-point range. The Fighting Irish's three starting guards finished a combined 3-of-18 from downtown.
Looking forward
Notre Dame is by no means good without Colson, so it is difficult to draw any sort of meaningful conclusions from Monday's action. However, the Blue Devil defense has been trending up since getting torched by N.C. State Jan. 6.
The competition hasn't been tough—they haven't played a team ranked in the top six in the conference in scoring offense, but the intensity has been there. Duke's first real test on defense will come Feb. 8 against North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.