ACC Basketball Notebook: Tre Jones returns to court, Matthew Hurt shines

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 21: Javin DeLaurier #12 and Wendell Moore Jr. #0 celebrate with Alex O’Connell #15 of the Duke Blue Devils (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

The Duke Blue Devils remained undefeated during ACC Basketball play as Tre Jones returned to the court, and Matthew Hurt turned in his best performance of his young career.

Tre Jones handed out 10 assists, marking the third time this season he has reached double-digit in assists, while Matthew Hurt scored 20 of his career-high 25 points in the first half as the second-ranked Duke Blue Devils rolled over the Boston College Eagles 88-49 on Tuesday. Jones, who sat out the previous two games with an injury, was a little rusty shooting ball, but he did an excellent job running the offense as the Blue Devils racked up 20 dimes on 35 field goals, including a season-high 12 3-pointers, as they shot 51.5% from the field overall.

It marked the third time this season that Duke has finished with at least 20 assists and the seventh occasion that the Blue Devils shot above 50% from the field. The 6-3 sophomore point guard finished with five points as he was 2-for-8 from the field and 1-for-3 from beyond the arc. Jones also grabbed five rebounds and only turned the ball over once.

While it was nice to see Jones back in the lineup, perhaps the most significant breakthrough was Hurt’s performance. Hurt came into the season as one of the most heralded freshmen, but he has been inconsistent. However, the 6-9 freshman knocked down 10 of 16 shots from the field against BC, including five of 10 from long-distance, both of which were season-bests. Hurt has reached double-figures in five of his last seven contests and has made at least 50% of his shots 10 times this season. He ranks 20th in the ACC in 3-pointers made (20), ninth in true shooting percentage (59.7%), and 14th in offensive rebounding percentage (9.4%).

Duke (12-1, 2-0 ACC) extended its winning streak to six with the victory over BC. The Blue Devils now own a 22-3 advantage in the season series against the Eagles, which includes going a perfect 11-0 at Cameron Indoor. The victory was also the Devils 300th for the decade, which is the fourth-highest total since Jan. 1, 2010.

Duke’s defense

While the Blue Devils are highly efficient on the offense, it has been their defense that has carried Duke this season. Duke is ranked third in Ken Pom’s defensive efficiency ranking at 85 points per 100 possessions. They have held each of their last three opponents to 57 or fewer points as well as less than 36% from the field. Their defense has set season-low in points allowed in each of the last two games, permitting 50 points to Brown (Dec. 28) and then 49 to BC. Overall, Duke is 54th in the nation in scoring defense at 62.5 points a game and is limiting its opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 45.3%.

Duke is doing an outstanding job at defending the three-point shot, forcing turnovers, coming up with steals, and protecting the paint. Vernon Carey and Javin DeLaurier, along with Jones, lead the way defensively for the Blue Devils.

Blue Devils 3-point shooting

Duke is far from a fantastic three-point shooting team this year as the Blue Devils are averaging 7.1 treys (200th nationally) at a 34.8% clip. But the Devils have made at least one three-pointer in 1,072 straight games, which is the third-longest active streak in the nation. They rank 292nd in the country in the 3-point rate as just 31.6% of their field-goal tries are from beyond the arc. Hurt (1.5 3FG, 40.8%), Jones (1.5, 32.6%) and Joey Baker (1.3, 43.6%) and Alex O’Connell (0.9, 27.9%) are their top 3-point threats.

Duke’s improved bench play

Coach Mike Krzyzewski generally does not use a lot of players, rather settling for an eight-player rotation. But that has changed this season as Jones is the only player currently averaging over 30 minutes of playing time per game, and 10 players overall are seeing at least 14 minutes of court time. Furthermore, nine different players have started a game this year, which matches last year’s total.

The Blue Devils’ reserves are the 56th most productive bench in the nation as they are contributing 25.8 points and15.3 rebounds (5.0 ORPG) while shooting 44.1% from the field and 31.4% from beyond the arc (2.5 triples a game). The 25.8 points a game that the reserves are currently averaging is the highest point total a Blue Devils bench has contributed since the 2005-06 squad produced 26.9 points a contest. Wendell Moore Jr., Jordan Goldwire, and Baker are the top reserves. Duke’s bench has upped its offensive production to 33.2 PPG over the last six contests.