Preview: No. 7 Duke at Boston College

Where has this version of Trevor Keels been locked away? And how can the Blue Devils make sure they get more of what they saw Thursday night?

The latter question is really the one that matters moving forward, as Duke’s freshman guard is coming off a 25-point performance in which he took over the second half of the Blue Devils’ 82-64 win at Clemson.

“They were throwing different reads at us,” Keels said of what led to his scoring outburst. “I just did a good job of reading the play, looking at the big fella, Mark [Williams], attacking when I needed to attack, passing when a person was open.”

Keels hadn’t scored more than 19 points since his 25-point debut against Kentucky. He missed three games after suffering a leg injury against Florida State, and in the three games since then he’d combined for 26 points on 7-for-25 shooting, with nine rebounds and two turnovers.

But against the Tigers, things clicked. Keels made 9 of 13 shots – including starting the second half 8-for-8 until a last-minute miss when the game was decided – and added 11 rebounds, giving him his first double-double of the season.

Keels played aggressively and assertively in the second half, getting into the paint and finishing at the rim. He added three 3-pointers, giving him seven in the last three games (he also had three against UNC last weekend).

It was a cleanser of a performance in a few ways: Keels’ second-half takeover became the story after the vicious foul David Collins committed on Wendell Moore Jr., resulting in an ejection and one-game suspension (announced Friday), and it helped the Blue Devils move forward after their loss to Virginia on Monday night.

For Keels, the sterling performance announced that he’s back to full speed following his injury.

“I feel like I’m getting back to myself. Missing three games is tough, especially when you can’t be out there with your brothers and fight,” Keels said. “But inside the locker room, Wendell talked to me before the game and was just like, ‘Play like yourself.’ It really helped me.

“He even said something to me at halftime. Even the guys said something to me. I think that’s what’s special about this group, everybody wanting each other to succeed. It really got to me. I said to just play like myself out there and that’s what I did.”

Keels was asked what Thursday night’s game does for his confidence moving forward, and he deferred to the big picture and team mentality.

“We’ve got a lot of games left, so just be humble, stay down and keep working, keep fighting with my teammates and keep getting wins,” he said.

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Here’s what to know ahead of Saturday night’s game:

Time: 5 p.m.

TV: ACC Network

Announcers: Jon Meterparel (play-by-play) and Malcolm Huckaby (analyst).

Series; last season: Duke leads 25-3; Duke swept both matchups, winning 83-82 at Cameron Indoor Stadium and 86-51 at BC later in the season.

Records: Duke 20-4, 10-3 ACC; Boston College 9-13, 4-8.

Stat to watch: Field goal percentages.

To put it simply: Duke makes a lot of shots (effective field goal percentage of 55.1 per KenPom, which is 21st in the country) and Boston College surrenders a high percentage (50.6% eFG defense, 209th).

And on the other side of the court, BC struggles to make shots (45.7% eFG, 328th) and Duke limits opponents’ efficiency in shot-making (45.1% eFG defense, 20th).

Sometimes it really is as simple as “gotta make shots.”

Not to overstate things, but this shouldn’t be all that complicated of a game for Duke. The Blue Devils have the combination of physical, athletic perimeter defenders and Mark Williams as a rim protector to limit BC offensively.

And the Blue Devils’ offense should excel, given the talent discrepancies.

Eagle to watch: Jaeden Zackery, guard.

Boston College has lost four of its last five and Earl Grant has quite the daunting rebuild – but Zackery might be a part of the long-term project.

Of the six players who have played in all 22 of BC’s games this season, Zackery is the only one freshman.

Zackery broke loose in BC’s 73-64 loss to Syracuse earlier this week with 18 points, six rebounds and six assists. It was the first time since a Jan. 8 game against Pittsburgh that he scored in double figures.

Blue Devil to watch: Mark Williams, center.

It’s fair to say Williams has had an up-and-down season, but he’s certainly been on an upward trend lately.

Williams has 16 points in each of the Blue Devils’ two games this week, and has done so on a combined 13-for-15 shooting. Most of that work has been done around the rim – which is all that Duke really needs offensively from the 7-1 sophomore.

Williams is shooting a ridiculous 71.5% from the field (108 of 151), which would be far and away the best percentage in the ACC – if he qualified for the league’s leaders. The ACC requires five made field goals per game – Williams is at 4.5 field goals per game.

KenPom prediction: Duke wins 75-62.

Devils Illustrated prognosis: It feels like the only danger Duke could find itself in is if it’s fatigued at the end of this four-games-in-eight-days stretch.

Given the rollercoaster of a 20-point win in Chapel Hill, followed by the last-second loss to Virginia, and then pulling away from Clemson amid the scary situation with Wendell Moore Jr. – it’s been an eventful week for the Blue Devils.

The good news for Duke is this BC team just doesn’t seem to do many things well, particularly when it comes to matching up against some of the weaknesses we’ve seen from the Blue Devils.

Maybe offensive rebounding for the Eagles is somewhat of a concern – but Duke has taken strides in that area over the past couple of weeks.

Duke should cruise – and then it’s back home for a key matchup against another team (Wake Forest) that’ll come to Cameron Indoor Stadium looking for a marquee win (Tuesday night).