Duke defeats Notre Dame 71-53

In the end, a basketball game may be categorized in a few different ways. You’re capable of success. It’s possible to lose. It’s possible to feel ashamed. You can move on whether you win or lose.

It’s obvious that Duke defeated Notre Dame on Wednesday night. Did they, however, make progress? It’s not really clear.

First and first, one must realize that, god bless them, the Irish are simply not very good at this time of year. Their talent is limited, and although heart may accomplish amazing things (just look at the 1992 Kentucky squad), talent is essential. To compete at a high level, skill is a requirement.

But to go along with skill, you also need to put in work and be passionate. This season, Duke has had it on occasion; but, it hasn’t happened as frequently as it has in the previous two games.

We believed that Duke would exact their resentment on Notre Dame and make the Irish pay following the defeat at Chapel Hill. That was not actually the case. As a unit, Duke didn’t make as much progress as we had planned.

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With zero points at the end of the first half, Kyle Filipowski was incredibly inactive. In the second, he was more aggressive, albeit not as much as he could have been.

All all, Duke’s shooting performance was lackluster, with only 4–18 from the bonusphere and 26–60 overall. Additionally, the squad only shot 60% from the line, which in a closer game may have been disastrous.

However, there were some positive aspects. Jared McCain shown his ability to penetrate defenses with a strong early surge. It’s wonderful that he feels more at ease doing it. In 11 minutes, Sean Stewart finished with four points, five rebounds, three steals, and one block—his greatest performance to date at Duke. And after making an incredible block, he dashed down the floor and scored on an alley-oop. There is no one else on Duke that is as capable as he is. All he needs to do is grow up a bit, which he obviously is.

Particularly in the second half, Ryan Young was brash, astute, and did his Ryan Young thing.

For the second consecutive game, Caleb Foster came off the bench and had a pretty good performance. In addition to hitting a three, he was aggressive, cutting across the lane in search of opportunities. Nobody hit more than one, though.

Mark Mitchell had a relatively good game, pulling down 10 rebounds, four of which were offensive. He shot 4–8. Filipowski collected nine rebounds, five of which were offensive despite his poor shooting (2-9). Duke finished with 16 offensive rebounds, a significant increase from some of their previous performances. And Jaylen Blakes, who hadn’t played since January 23rd, entered the game and did what he does best—cause a lot of turmoil and disturbance.

To be honest, it would be awesome if Matt Christensen instituted a team honor that he could name the Clayton Christensen Disruption honor, which would be given to the most disruptive defender each year at the postseason dinner.

It’s just an idea, Matt, but Blakes would win it for as long as he attends Duke, and it would be a wonderful way to memorialize your dad.

Now let’s get back to the game

As we have indicated, this game had a lot of wonderful features, but they didn’t exactly come together the way we had planned.

The defense did a decent job, however you have to think that in part that was due to Notre Dame’s lackluster offensive play. Freshmen Markus Burton (19 while hitting 8–17) and Braeden Shrewsberry (17 while shooting 4–10) were the top scorers. 3-8 is whacked by both guards from behind the line.

Except for Kebba Njie and Tae Davis, who each scored six points, Carey Booth scored five points, while Matt Zona and JR Konieczny each made a basket.

Duke had the good fortune to host the Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight on Wednesday. Although Notre Dame is an impressive team right now, they are really unimpressive, particularly offensively.

Boston College will visit on Saturday. The Eagles don’t have a lot of skill, but they play with a lot of heart and effort. An upset is definitely conceivable if Duke allows them to play in that game.

Source:
https://www.dukebasketballreport.com/2024/2/8/24061899/duke-notre-dame-71-53-kyle-filipowski-jeremy-roach-tyrese-proctor-jared-mccain-mark-mitchell

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