Duke 66, Boston College 63: Blue Devils outlast Eagles, win thrilling ACC battle at Conte Forum

By Gethin Coolbaugh

CHESTNUT HILL - The last time that Duke ventured into Conte Forum, Boston College pulled off an upset of historic proportions.

Without much surprise, Saturday afternoon’s match-up between Atlantic Coast Conference powerhouse Duke and host Boston College featured another classic wire-to-wire finish.

Yet this time, it was the Blue Devils who escaped with a narrow victory, sending Boston College packing with a 66-63 victory in front of 8,606 fans at Conte Forum.

“We’re really pleased to come out with a hard-fought win,” said Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski. “It’s our second win in 43 hours.”

The Eagles pulled within three at 66-63 in the final 11 seconds, but Duke was able to trap sophomore guard Reggie Jackson before he passed to junior forward Joe Trapani for a last second three-point attempt to extend the game, which was wide right.

“They chased (Jackson) with two guys,” said Boston College head coach Al Skinner. “Unfortunately, he just held it a little too long to get the ball to Joe in time enough for him to shoot a shot that was going to be comfortable.”

Duke junior guard Nolan Smith finished tied with Jon Scheyer for a game-high 21 points.

“It’s a big win,” Smith said. “Being here in Boston, its a place where we haven’t had too much success, and its normally a place where we turned our season around. Now, we’re looking to get better from here.”

Despite only making two-of-six free throws in the first half, the Blue Devils connected on 13-of-20 in the second half, including 6-of-8 free throws in the final three minutes.

“I think sometimes free throw shooting or finishing is a result of not being fresh,” Krzyzewski said. “We had a hell of a game against Georgia Tech (on Thursday night), and then we flew up here and we’re playing right away.” (With) those finishes on the line, you’re happy that you’re not banging anybody anymore, and (sometimes) you don’t have that level of concentration, but we did at the end.”

“(Free throws) were very important,” said Smith, who went two-for-three from the line. “Any big game you play in college basketball, especially on the road, wins are hard to come by in this conference so free throws are huge.”

“You’re not at home where they’re going to raise their hands and be quiet for you,” added Smith” You’ve got guys jumping around under the basket, so you’ve got to keep your poise.”

In a back-and-forth game early, Boston College (12-11, 3-6 ACC) managed to stay within range of the 10th-ranked Blue Devils, even leading by three two minutes in.

Duke (19-4, 7-2 ACC) used a 6-0 run over the final 3:26 of the first half to take a 35-25 lead at the break.

“It was really the plays at the end of the first half that was the difference in the ball game,” noted Skinner. “Our execution was poor,and they got on a bit of a run.”

Nolan Smith led all scorers at halftime, totaling 13 of Duke’s 35 points.

The Eagles came out of the gate strong to start the second half, going on an 8-2 run to cut the lead to 37-33 with 16:43 remaining in the game.

Despite the Eagles’ offensive charge, Duke was able to rebuild a steady lead, leading by as many as 11 with 12:59 left to play.

“We fought back and got it within single digits and had our opportunities, but we didn’t make enough shots,” Skinner said. “We just need to put the ball in the basket. If we do that, it’s a different ball game for us.”

Junior forward Corey Raji scored a team-high 15 points and junior guard Rakim Sanders finished with 13 points.

“Tonight, for the most part we did a good job,” said Raji. “But we had some mental mistakes, like coach said. As far as I’m concerned, I was happy with the effort that we gave but we just came up a little short.”

Duke shot 47.9% from the floor, connecting on 23-of-48 shots while Boston College made 24-of-58 shots to shoot 41.4%.

The Eagles struggles from three-point range continued, as Boston College made two-of-14 attempts from beyond the arch, translating to 14.3%.

The Blue Devils out-rebounded the Eagles 31-27, but Boston College held a 12-11 advantage in assists.

It was a disappointing outcome for the Eagles in a game that only distanced themselves from thoughts of tournament play.

“Right now, I can’t even worry about the postseason,” said Skinner. “In my opinion, we haven’t even put ourselves in a position to consider that. We’ve got to get ourselves some wins before we can start entertaining anything like that.”

SHOT CLOCK CONTROVERSY

Due to a technical malfunction, the shot clocks above each basket were not working throughout the entire game.

Instead, the officials were forced to use two shot clocks on the corners of the court to keep track of time.

During the Eagles’ final possession, it appeared as if the Eagles were unaware of the time remaining in the game, ultimately resulting in a rushed three-point attempt from Trapani.

“There’s no question that it definitely played a role,” said Skinner. “Reggie was saying that, with the clock on the floor, he couldn’t see how much time was left.”

“I’m not blaming him for holding the ball,” Skinner added. “As he indicated coming off of the floor, he said ‘Coach, I just couldn’t see how much time was left on the clock,’ so he just never felt comfortable.”

NOTES

Junior guard Rakim Sanders led all Eagles’ scorers at halftime, totaling seven points…Sanders’ 13 points marks the 47th time in his career he has scored double-figures in a game. He has now scored in double-figures in four straight game for the Eagles…BC held a 40-28 advantage in points in the paint…The Eagles are now 2-5 on the season when they are out-rebounded in a game…Boston College is now 8-6 in home games this year…The Blue Devils improved to 2-4 on the road.

Gethin Coolbaugh is the Associate Editor of Boston Sports U18. He can be reached at 774-279-1995 or at gethin.coolbaugh@bostonsportsu18.com. You can also visit Gethin Coolbaugh’s official website and follow Gethin Coolbaugh on Twitter as well as his official NBA Twitter account.