Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from Blue Devils romp over Bellarmine

1. Three games into the season, it is undoubtedly clear who Duke’s best player is – and he has stepped up big since his freshman campaign

The scoring output for Duke in their opening three games has been inconsistent, to say the least – but there has been one constant that has been, above all else, instrumental to their 2-1 record: Matthew Hurt.

For context: Duke had four double-digit scorers against Coppin State, two of whom have not scored double-digits since.  Against Michigan State, they had four – two from the previous game, and two new.  Two of those would not score double-digits against Bellarmine – while the other two did.  One of those latter two did not score double-digits against Coppin, but the other did.

Confusing, yes, I know, but there is one constant throughout those three games: only one player scored double-digits in all three of Duke’s games thus far.  That would be sophomore forward Matthew Hurt, who has been on an offensive tear to begin his second campaign as a Blue Devil.

The fact that Hurt can score is not surprising, obviously.  He had fantastic performances last season, including three games where he scored over 20 points – his best display being a 25-point (10-16 FG, 5-10 3PT) showcase against Boston College.

But he was also inconsistent last year, and his numbers began to trail off in February and March.  After 16-straight games of seeing at least 15 minutes a game, his numbers dipped into single-digits on four occasions, and his number of shots decreased, as well.

Now, Hurt has become “the guy” for the Blue Devils.  In three games, he is averaging 19 points a game on a stellar shooting clip (54.1% FG on 20-37, 56.3% 3PT on 9-16, 80% FT on 8-10) and is averaging 8.7 rebounds per game to boot.

His output has been critical to Duke’s success thus far, and, truthfully, I do not think it is out of line to say that they would have been in danger against Coppin and even Bellarmine if they did not have Hurt on their roster.  Their offensive inconsistencies will not bode well come the ACC regular season – or against Illinois on Tuesday, for that matter.

But, if Hurt is able to consistently score throughout the season, Duke should be fine so long as one or, preferably, two more Blue Devils step up and provide 10-15 points a night.  They got that tonight from Brakefield, who poured in 12, but only having those two will not favor the Blue Devils in ACC play.