Duke Survives Boston College in Ragged Game

Duke nearly stepped into a trap on Tuesday night, heading to Boston College in between much higher-profile road games at Syracuse and North Carolina.

The Blue Devils struggled on offense most of the night and trailed for more than 27 minutes before grinding out a 63-55 win over the Eagles in a ragged, sloppy game.

It was Duke’s lowest scoring output of the season by five points, as the Blue Devils very nearly went without making a three pointer for the first time in 1,081 games, dating back to 1989. After eight different Blue Devils misfired from three, going 0-for-14, Joey Baker hit Duke’s lone three with 7:33 remaining in the game. Duke finished 1-for-15 from outside.

Duke shot 26.7 percent from the field in the first half and just 37.7 percent for the game. Baker (3-for-3) and Javin DeLaurier (2-for-2) were the only Blue Devils to hit more than half the shots they took in the contest.

Duke was also outrebounded by six in the first half as Boston College showed grit and spunk inside, crowding the middle to slow down Vernon Carey. The freshman big man ended up getting seven points at the free throw line and finished with 17 points and 10 rebounds for his third straight double-double.

Tre Jones led the team with 18 points and four assists.

The Blue Devils also struggled on the defensive end, failing repeatedly to contain Boston College’s drives to the basket. Derryck Thornton, who shot just 3-of-12 for six points in the first game, won by Duke 88-49, hit seven of 13 shots and went to the free throw line eight times to finish with 21 points.

Fortunately for Duke, if Boston College couldn’t get to the rim, the Eagles couldn’t score a basket. Boston College missed its first 12 three-point attempts and finished 2-of-18 from three. The Eagles shot 37.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over 17 times.

Duke had a late 10-0 run to erase a Boston College lead and pull in front by two possessions, avoiding a costly loss in the ACC. Duke heads to UNC with a 19-3 record, 9-2 in the ACC and riding a four-game winning streak.