There was plenty to build off after No. 9 Duke picked up a victory earlier this week, and there is plenty more for the Blue Devils to do as they aim to stay in contention in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The middle game of a three-game homestand comes Saturday afternoon against Boston College in Durham, N.C.
Duke (17-5, 8-3 ACC) had an ideal response to its loss last weekend at No. 3 North Carolina, defeating visiting Notre Dame 71-53 on Wednesday night.
“This group always responds,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “I thought the bench gave good energy, good minutes. We’re going to need more of that.”
Boston College (13-9, 4-7) doesn’t want a hiccup from earlier this week to linger, so that will be part of the Eagles’ emphasis.
“We’re playing good basketball. We won two out of three,” coach Earl Grant said. “There are still opportunities to play your best basketball.”
Boston College lost 63-62 to Florida State on Tuesday night at home, halting a two-game winning streak. That dropped the Eagles to 4-3 in games decided by five points or fewer this season.
“We got down big,” Grant said. “And some of that was Florida State’s length and athleticism. Some of it was our decision making. … We did everything we wanted to do in the second half. We just didn’t execute (the plan) for 40 minutes.”
Scheyer’s quest to see a complete performance from his team stems from good practices and then carrying that through. He turned to reserves early in the Notre Dame game in an effort, in part, to see the energy level maintained.
“To win these games, you have to play every play, you have to go to the boards,” he said. “For us to have 16 offensive rebounds, our guys made a conscious effort to do that.”
The Blue Devils are still hoping that center Kyle Filipowski can limit his uneven stretches. He didn’t score in the first half Wednesday.
“We’ve got to get him going,” Scheyer said. “And we have to help him, I have to help him. We have to keep him out of foul trouble. That’s clearly a thing that every team tries to do. … Go at him to try to get fouls.”
The Eagles will be aiming for their third ACC road victory, with earlier wins at Georgia Tech and Notre Dame.
“You just keep working on your fundamentals,” Grant said. “We just don’t really turn it over a lot.”
Boston College’s Quinten Post went over the 1,000-point mark for his career during the Florida State game when he racked up 21 points and 12 rebounds. Post has played in 109 college games combined between Mississippi State and Boston College.
“He has come a long way,” Grant said. “He was a backup player when he first came here. He has gotten better every year.”
Boston College’s last conquering of a ranked opponent came last February against Virginia.
Duke swept two games from the Eagles last season and holds a 28-3 all-time record in the series. Boston College hasn’t defeated Duke since Dec. 9, 2017, at home.
– Field Level Media