Eagles Can't Figure out Duke

In an otherwise tightly contested game, Duke’s two most important runs of the game came in the final moments of each half.

In the last four minutes of the first period, Boston College scored just three points and allowed DeMarcus Nelson to run off six-straight points to give the Blue Devils what was then their largest lead of the game, 40-32, entering halftime. Then, down by six with five minutes to go in the second half, Duke outscored the Eagles 12-4 to finish the game.

A typically gritty performance by Jared Dudley and a solid contribution from Tyrelle Blair off the bench kept Boston College in striking distance, but Duke’s oppressive defense made sure the Eagles didn’t get any closer. Poor shooting and defensive rebounding prevented BC from making a late run and the Eagles fell to the Blue Devils 75-61 in front 9,314 Cameron Crazies.

Sunday’s loss was the Eagles’ second in three games since the suspension of Sean Williams and Akida McLain.

Williams’ absence was evident early on Sunday evening. Without the junior center who led the nation in blocks while he was active, Duke attacked BC’s weakened interior defense by lobbing two alley-oops to Josh McRoberts (who also dished one to freshman sky-walker Gerald Henderson) and sending Nelson and his power forward-like strength into the lane to muscle home some layups. Duke exploited its interior mismatch to the tune of 50% shooting (compared to BC’s 35%).

McRoberts, who finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds, gave BC fits on the other end as well. The sophomore co-captain blocked five shots and forced the Eagles’ flex offense, which usually finds them high-percentage shots around the basket, to the perimeter, where they boast the league’s worst three-point shooting average. BC hit just four of 16 shots from downtown.

Blair, a junior transfer from Loyola-Chicago, had season-bests in points (nine) and rebounds (six) in 25 minutes as a sub. He also tied a season-best with four blocks – the fourth time this year he’s had as many – and showed more aggressiveness and consistency on both ends than he has all year.

Half-way through the first half, Blair threw down a one-handed jam over McRoberts to tie the game briefly at 18. But he couldn’t convert the free-throw attempt he earned, which would have given BC its first lead of the game since its 2-0 advantage on the opening possession. That’s when Dudley shook off some early, offensive passiveness.

Dudley, like his teammates, didn’t shoot particularly well from the floor, but displayed his crafty instincts and knack for big shots in the first half. A minute after Blair’s dunk, Dudley gave the Eagles that lead when he sunk a three-pointer from the right wing, his first field goal of the night. On the next trip down the floor, after a long sequence of offensive rebounding by Duke and a Marty Pocius put-back gave the lead back to the Blue Devils, Dudley drained another three from the same spot to steal the lead right back.

Dudley’s second three came with 8:29 left in the first half, but it would be the last time BC would lead for the rest of the night. Duke followed it with a 10-2 run, highlighted by McRoberts’ lob to Henderson and a McRoberts block that led to a breakaway slam by Nelson. BC’s senior captain and the ACC’s second-leading scorer, though, wasn’t ready to allow Duke to pull away.

At the 4:17 mark, Dudley took the bounce out of the Crazies when he faked Nelson into the air and leaned into him to draw a foul from behind the arc. The crowd settled while they waited for the officials to confirm by video replay whether Dudley was indeed in three-point territory. Dudley sank all three shots and cut the six-point Duke lead in half.

BC kept close for the next three minutes, but Nelson’s run at the end of the half was devastating and brought the momentum back to the home team.

The ACC’s best scoring defense (56 points allowed a game entering Sunday) and a bouncing mass of Cameron Crazies made BC’s eight-point, halftime deficit insurmountable. With 16:56 left in the game, sophomore guard Tyrese Rice sunk a running jump shot from the key to cut the Duke lead to five, which would mark the closest the Eagles would get for the rest of the night.

Inspired by Blair’s energy off the bench, BC kept fighting. Blair entered the game for the first time in the second half with 12:11 remaining and his impact was felt immediately. His assertiveness gave the Eagles something resembling a defensive swagger on the inside and Duke was once again unable to pull away.

Blair grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a layup with 10:42 left to cut the Duke lead to eight. On the other end, Blair stuffed a layup try by McRoberts and freshman forward Shamari Spears (12 points) made it 58-52 with a point-blank shot of his own.

With just more than six minutes left, another momentum killer hurt Duke’s ability to put BC out of reach. David McClure, who had himself been giving his team an energy boost off the bench, came down awkwardly on his knee amid Blair and several other leaping players. The gym fell eerily silent (except only for the encouraging words of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski) and the Blue Devils briefly played with uncharacteristic tentativeness.

BC played swarming defense on the following possession and Duke could barely muster an errant field goal attempt before the shot clock expired. Dudley exploited a double team on the other end when he found Blair uncovered in the lane and Blair threw down a dunk to chip the lead back down to six.

But for the next (and final) 5:06 of the game, the contest was one sided and BC was on the wrong end.