Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from bounceback win over Notre Dame Fighting Irish

2. Jordan Goldwire giving some offense to go with an already great defense

One of the reasons for the long-term concern regarding Johnson’s absence is the potential lack of offense for Duke. Outside of Hurt going for 16-20 each night, the inconsistencies among the rest of the cast were the causes of the 2-2 team start.

It’s hard to say that Goldwire is part of that problem when he’s never been a scorer in the first place. The senior point guard has a career average of 2.4 ppg in 98 games played and has rarely ever gone to double figures.

He’s mostly known for being one of the best pure defenders in college basketball and we saw that again in this matchup, limiting star Notre Dame point guard Prentiss Hubb to just 12 points on 4/9 shooting. He came into the game averaging 21.3 ppg in four games.

Besides on the on-ball defense, Goldwire was able to score a bit himself. The guard had nine points on the night on 4/8 shooting and made an early three-pointer to get things started. His having similar numbers to the opposing team’s point guard is a major win for the Blue Devils and if he can do this on a regular occasion, they’ll be in great shape going forward.