Duke comes from 16 down to knock off Boston College

Duke returned to Coach K Court Wednesday for the first time since Dec. 16, and walked off the floor with an 83-82 victory over Boston College.

The Blue Devils, who were without Mike Krzyzewski and coached by Jon Scheyer, fell behind by 16 points with 2:13 remaining in the first half. Over that final stretch, Duke found new life, and outscored Boston College 10-2, cutting the Eagles’ lead to eight points, 43-35, at the break.

Up until that point, Duke had obviously struggled mightily. This was particularly true on defense, where the Blue Devils were unable to slow down a Boston College team that was shooting nearly 70% from the field. To make matters worse, Duke, who had started out strong on the offensive end, couldn’t buy a bucket of its own. The result was a Boston College team in complete control.

“Honestly, it got to a point in that first half, I thought our confidence was a little shaken,” Scheyer said. “We were walking in mud a little bit there in the first half. They were quicker to the ball. They were hungrier and we needed to change that.

“I thought it took us a while to get going, clearly. Not sure exactly what it was, but I thought the end of the first half was huge.”

Duke trailed by just one, 18-17, with 12:38 remaining in the first half. From that point until the 2:13 mark, Duke was just 4-of-19 from the field. At that moment, Duke trailed 41-25. Then something clicked for the Blue Devils, as they connected on 3-of-5 shots, and made 5-of-6 attempted from the free throw line.

One of the catalysts for Duke’s run at the end of the first half was freshman guard DJ Steward, who finished the first half with a team-high 10 points (14 for the game). Six of those points came in the final 2:13, while he also added four rebounds during the stretch.

“We just really came together,” Steward said. “We knew we had to get stops. The stops are going to lead to buckets. Boston College was a really good team and executed their game plan.

“In those last couple minutes we knew we had to cut the lead going into halftime to have a chance to win this game.”

That mentality carried forward into the second half. Duke opened the final 20 minutes of action by putting immediate pressure on Boston College. And it worked.

Boston College, who had ended the first half making 69.2% of its shots, and 71.4% from 3-point range, felt Duke right out of the gates. Thirty seconds into the second half, Duke had scored four points and posted one steal.

By the 17:35 mark of the second half, Duke was leading, 48-46. The Blue Devils had put together a 22-5 run over 4:38 of play, going back to the end of the first half.

“Coming out of halftime we tried to put a little pressure on them, we got a couple turnovers, got some stops and I thought it really got us back in that game right away, which was really important,” Scheyer said.

“We were just trying to tell them, one: we can win this game, and we are going to win this game; and two: it really came down to playing harder. As simple as that sounds … For the majority of what we talked about was fighting, getting stops and then we can go from there.”

Duke’s defense was critical to the comeback. Through the first 2:25 of the second half, Duke turned Boston College over three times, which resulted in seven points. The strong defense, quickly turned into solid offense. The Blue Devils didn’t miss a shot, sans two free throws during that stretch of play.

According to Scheyer, the coaching staff wanted the team to play free offensively. They did exactly that, particularly Wendell Moore Jr.

The sophomore had scored a total of 19 points all season long, making just one of his last 19 shots attempts. The slump resulted in his starting spot and game minutes being taken away. To be clear, it was not a form of punishment for any reason, it was just for the betterment of the team as Moore looked for himself.

He found whatever was missing midway through the first half when he banked in a long 3-point try. The smile on his face following the made attempt said everything you needed to know about how the made basket impacted him.

“I was just happy to see it go through,” Moore said. “Just seeing that first one go through, I feel like it took everything that was on my shoulders off of me. It gave me a chance to play free.”

And did he ever. Moore ultimately played 30 minutes off the bench, and led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting. It was a career high for the sophomore. He also added four rebounds and three steals.

His impact, though went beyond his points. It was about his leadership, and how he helped set the tone defensively.

Scheyer had high praise for Moore.

“Wendell has always been at his best when he’s playing defense, he’s talking, he’s leading and I thought to start the game he did that and then his offense came along as well. Can’t tell you how proud we are of him.

“He saved us throughout the entire game.”

This was particularly true in the final moments of the game. Duke had the ball with a 78-77 lead, and just 44 seconds left in the game. The referees were reviewing a ball that was tipped out of bounds. Ultimately, Duke was awarded the ball under its own basket.

During the stoppage of play, Scheyer and the rest of the staff drew up a play - one Chris Carrawell had suggested during a scrimmage earlier in the fall. There was just two seconds remaining on the shot clock. With Jeremy Roach inbounding the pass, the play called for Moore to curl and serve as an option for the entry.

However, he made an in-the-moment decision and broke off. It resulted in a turnaround jumper that barely touched the net on its way through the hoop.

“Wendell, to be honest with you, was one of the options. He broke the play off, and I’m glad he did, and it worked out even better than what we drew up,” Scheyer noted. “I think in that situation, one, we didn’t know if we were going to have the ball or not. We thought we might, and we drew up a play first and Wendell made a good read. He was supposed to curl, and ended up popping out. He made a heckuva play and made us look good.”

That shot was just one in a series of big plays by the Blue Devils that ultimately led them to a win.

Matthew Hurt, who was again a key component to Duke’s success, scored three of his 17 points on a nice corner 3-pointer coming out of a timeout. That shot came just 46 seconds before Moore connected on his big shot, and at the time gave Duke a 78-75 advantage.

Another key moment was when Jordan Goldwire stepped to the free throw line with 24 seconds remaining, and Duke up just one point, 80-79. Duke struggled for most of the night from the free throw line, ultimately making just 15-of-25 on the night, but the senior knocked down both under high game pressure.

Duke’s second half play was outstanding. By game’s end, Duke had forced 21 turnovers, 14 coming via steal. They also posted 36 rebounds. As a result, Duke was able to run. They scored 28 points on the fast break, and 25 off turnovers.

As a whole, Duke had five players score in double digits.

“I’d be lying if I said this did not mean a lot to me,” Scheyer said of his first win while serving as the acting head coach. “Naturally you want to step up and have Coach’s back as a staff. I’ve always wanted to win. You know you’re going into this game and you get one chance.

“It wasn’t pretty all the time. But I’m proud of the preparation we had as a staff. I’m proud of the decisions in game, although there’s always things you’d do better or differently. But to start off this way and get a win - it’s easier to call Coach after the game. I think it’s easier. I may not sleep tonight after that.”