Duke at Boston College: Preview and Tale of the Tape

Blue Devils look to sweep Eagles

Duke travels to Boston College for the second of three straight ACC road games. The Blue Devils beat Syracuse over the weekend and have UNC on the horizon.

Duke pounded the Eagles in the first matchup of the season, at Cameron Indoor Stadium, winning 88-49 on New Year’s Eve. They are 18-3, 8-2 in the ACC and have won three straight. Duke is 5-1 in true road games this year.

B.C. is 11-11, 5-6 in the ACC and are coming off a one-point win at North Carolina that gave the Eagles two wins in the last three. Boston College is 3-2 at home in ACC play.

Tale of the tape

KenPom rating: Duke 2, Boston College 162

Torvik: Duke 2, Boston College 146

Torvik prediction: Duke 80-65

NET ranking: Duke 6, Boston College 147

SOS: Duke 7, Boston College 73

Quad 1 record: Duke 5-1, Boston College 1-5

Tempo: Duke No. 44 nationally, Boston College No. 99

When Duke has the ball (Duke offense vs. Boston College defense per Torvik)

Efficiency: Duke 119.0 (No. 3 nationally), Boston College 96.7 (No. 78)

Effective shooting: Duke 54.8% (No. 14), Boston College 49.2% (No. 167)

Turnover percentage: Duke 18.5% (No. 126), Boston College 22.6% (No. 32)

Rebounding percentage: Duke 36.9% (No. 6), Boston College 31.5 (No. 301)

Free throw rate: Duke 34.3 (No. 120), Boston College 30.0 (No. 131)

Three-point shooting: Duke 36.4% (No. 46), Boston College 34.2% (No. 222)

Two-point shooting: Duke 54.9 (No. 15), Boston College 48.0% (No. 131)

Free throw shooting: Duke 68.7 (No. 235), Boston College 70.4 (No. 177)

Blocked shot percentage: Duke 8.7% (No. 160), Boston College 7.7 (No. 214)

When Boston College has the ball (Duke defense vs. Boston College offense)

Efficiency: Duke 91.1 (No. 16), Boston College 98.5 (No. 260)

Effective shooting: Duke 45.5% (No. 38), Boston College 46.4% (No. 300)

Turnover percentage: Duke 22.0% (No. 44), Boston College 19.5% (No. 213)

Rebounding percentage: Duke 27.8% (No. 152), Boston College 24.6% (No. 280)

Free throw rate: Duke 30.0 (No. 127), Boston College 31.3 (No. 201)

Three-point shooting: Duke 30.2% (No. 42), Boston College 30.2% (No. 304)

Two-point shooting: Duke 45.5% (No. 59), Boston College 47.1% (No. 262)

Free throw shooting: Duke 66.3 (No. 25), Boston College 64.8 (No. 322)

Blocked shot percentage: Duke 14.8% (No. 14), Boston College 8.9% (No. 182)

Boston College leaders:

Derryck Thornton: 12.8 ppg, 3.6 assists

Jay Heath: 12.4 ppg, 38.2 percent from 3

Steffon Mitchell: 8.3 rebounds

Nic Popovic: 10.5 ppg, 5.1 rebounds

The key:

Matthew Hurt torched the Eagles in the first game, hitting 5-of-10 from three and scoring 25 points. Duke’s defense shut down BC to 33.9 percent shooting and 3-of-18 from three. Tre Jones harassed Derryck Thornton to 3-of-12 shooting, one assist and two turnovers. Look for Duke’s defense to try to take the perimeter away from the Eagles again.