Saturday, February 7, 2015, is a historic day for the ACC.
For the first time in league history, there are two games featuring top-10 matchups on the same day. A lot of excitement and hype have visited these two twin occasions, Duke hosting Notre Dame and Virginia hosting Louisville. The Blue Devils were a rather large favorite against the Fighting Irish (9.5 points), and they wasted no time showing why.
Noter Dame started the game off 6-0. That’s where the Irish’s fun ended and the long day in Durham began. Duke dropped a 43-7 run on the Irish in the span of 14 minutes. That was pretty much that. The Blue Devils shot a million percent 81 percent in the first half, hitting 17 of 21 field goals, including 7 of 8 from three and 9 of 12 at the foul line. Here are the major takeaways from this Blue Devil rout:
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When the Blue Devils are making shots as they did on Saturday, it’s a nightmare. Given how easily Duke can get shots inside with Jahlil Okafor, hitting the three-pointer is the cherry on the sundae. Matt Jones connected on a trio of treys during the first half as a part of his 15 first-half points. Quinn Cook added a pair of triples as well. When you add in Okafor dominating the smaller Irish inside, this game was a warning shot to the rest of the nation: If you don’t bring defensive intensity against Duke, you are going to pay.
The most encouraging thing for Duke has to be the play of Justise Winslow. His huge block is highlighted in the Locker, but that wasn’t all he did. Winslow scored 19 points on 6-11 shooting to go with 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocks. He was dealing with injuries throughout January. The last three games have seen him absolutely take off. Justise is served, averaging 16.3 points and 9.3 rebounds. He is also 16 of 26 on two-point shots.
Notre Dame couldn’t guard Jahlil Okafor in South Bend. To be fair, it also couldn’t guard him in Durham. The Irish tried going zone. Duke shot them out of it. No one could body Okafor, who scored 20 on 9-11 shooting and 2-2 free throws. Okafor also had a double double with 10 rebounds.
In the two games against Notre Dame, Okafor went for 42 points on 19-29 shooting and 22 rebounds. It’s pretty clear the Irish don’t want to see Duke in the ACC tournament.
Jerian Grant played in this game. If you only watched the first half, you might not have noticed him. It is a major knock on Grant’s player of the year case that he’s been neutralized in three of the four biggest ND games of the season, North Carolina, Virginia and this game. He’s scored in double digits once. That was his 11-point effort on Saturday, nearly all of which came in garbage time. When Grant is a non-factor, Notre Dame isn’t going to beat anyone.
Grant also had 4 assists, his fewest mark since the Pittsburgh game last weekend, another game Notre Dame lost.
Speaking of Notre Dame losing on the road, if you were of the mind that you wouldn’t trust Notre Dame until the Irish consistently won the road, you are still out on them. The defense is a major cause for concern. The defense isn’t that great in the Joyce Center, but ND shoots well there. When the shots aren’t falling on the road, the Irish defense isn’t good enough to get stops. That’s how they lost at Pittsburgh. That’s how they lost here against Duke.
The good news for Notre Dame is that this was the end of its ACC grind for the most part. The Irish play Clemson twice, Wake Forest, Boston College, and Syracuse. None of those teams are going to the NCAA tournament, even if Syracuse hadn’t been banned from postseason play. The toughest game left is a roadie to Louisville. There is plenty of time to steady the boat.
Duke’s defense deserves some props. Notre Dame shot under 40 percent for the game. More impressively, the Fighting Irish were held to their lowest points-per-possession mark of the season at 0.93. Duke suffocated the Irish worse than Virginia did.
Duke scored 90 points in a 62 possession game. That’s insane.
It’s hard seeing anyone except North Carolina beat Duke as one takes a peek at the rest of the Blue Devils’ schedule. To close, this was the type of game that is going to make anyone worry when Duke shows up in their bracket come the NCAA tournament. As if they wouldn’t be already. The Blue Devils were favored to tear Notre Dame apart. They dismembered the Irish like they were Mr. Potato Head in Toy Story.
