The last time Duke and Boston College played, it was all Blue Devils.
After a strong performance against Syracuse, No. 7 Duke will go on the road again this week, this time to Chestnut Hill, Mass., to play against Boston College for a second time this season. The Blue Devils blew out the Eagles 88-49 the last time the two teams met, but Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski believes that Boston College will bring some heat Tuesday at 7 p.m in Conte Forum.
“[Boston College] was coming off after not playing for ten days so they didn’t play to the level that they are playing now,” Krzyzewski said Monday about the teams' first meeting. “But we actually had a good game against Syracuse and hopefully we have a good game tomorrow night.”
The Eagles (11-11, 5-6 in the ACC) have had their fair share of losses since their December loss to Duke (18-3, 8-2), though there have been some notable wins as well. Boston College pulled out a 60-53 win against Virginia Jan. 7, as well a one-point win against North Carolina last weekend. The addition of a healthy Nik Popovic, who returned Jan. 22 after a six-week absence, will change the pace of the game this time around as well.
Besides Popovic, other Boston College scoring threats such as Jairus Hamilton, Derryck Thornton and Jay Heath could trouble Duke. However, the Blue Devils managed to hold Thornton and Hamilton to just 11 combined points back in December.
Duke was able to adjust well without freshman Wendell Moore Jr. on the court, so having him back for his second game back should give the Blue Devils the extra edge they need to make this another blowout. Moore played 24 minutes against the Orange and will be expected to ease into another game tomorrow night.
“It’s great to have him back,” Krzyzewski said. ”I thought he did really well.... His shape was excellent, we’ve been able to keep up with that. He had minimal soreness yesterday. We’re just going to keep moving on so that’s a huge step for our team.”
Sophomore Tre Jones ran the Blue Devil offense effectively in the teams' initial meeting, tallying 10 assists against the Eagles in December, and will also be expected to help where needed again.
“He’s doing great,” Krzyzewski said. “The additional scoring, what he did at the end of the game against Syracuse—they ramped up their pressure and they come at you and zone trap. He beat it, it was very physical and he hit every free throw. A little bit more wear and tear on it so we have to make sure that in between games we have the recovery time.”
After Tuesday’s contest, Duke will continue its road trip with a contest against rival North Carolina Saturday.
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