At times this season, No. 9 Duke played the kind of lock-down defense that’s defined the program throughout Mike Krzyzewski’s 42 seasons.
A few other times, that defense faltered, particularly late in games.
Now that the Blue Devils are as healthy as they’ve been all season, with a key ACC game looming Tuesday night against Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium, they hope to make that defensive edge closer to a permanent weapon.
For the season, the Blue Devils (21-4, 11-3 ACC) are No. 18 in the country – but No.1 in the ACC – in defensive efficiency, according to KenPom.com. Duke allows 90.9 points per 100 possessions (.909 per defensive possession).
The next best ACC team is Wake Forest at No. 42 nationally, allowing 94.7 points per 100 possessions.
Duke’s stinginess was at its best in the game that currently allows the Blue Devils to sit atop the ACC standings.
Two weeks ago, on Jan. 31 at Notre Dame, the Blue Devils beat the Irish, 57-43. Without that win, Duke would not be tied with Notre Dame (18-7, 11-3 ACC) for first place.
After that game, a man who helped design Duke’s defenses during some of the program’s best seasons three decades ago saw the current Blue Devils at their lock down best and came away duly impressed.
“We’ve had Kentucky come through here, we’ve had Carolina come through here with bodies,” Notre Dame coach, and former Duke assistant, Mike Brey said. “Ain’t nobody got bodies like these guys. And so how do we combat that? We make 3s. We couldn’t do it and I think I got to give them a lot of credit. They were just on us.”
That night, Duke held the Irish to just 0.65 points per possession and the Irish had to hit a flurry of late shots to reach the 40-point mark. This from a Notre Dame team that averages 1.09 points per possession and 70 points per game for the season.
That’s the best of a string of great defensive games for Duke in ACC play. Another was Jan. 22 against Syracuse, when Duke beat the Orange 79-59 by allowing Jim Boeheim’s team to score just 0.88 points per possession.
When Duke won 76-64 at Wake Forest on Jan. 12, the Demon Deacons produced just 0.93 points per possession.
Duke is in position to place first in the ACC regular season standings for the first time since 2010 because only six times in 14 league games has an opponent produced more than a point per possession.
Of those six games, Duke’s three ACC losses can be found. The worst, from a Duke perspective, was Jan. 18 in a 79-78 overtime loss at Florida State. The Seminoles scored 1.11 points per possession.
Virginia scored 1.08 in beating the Blue Devils, 69-68, on Feb. 7. Miami was at 1.07 in its 76-74 win at Cameron Indoor on Jan. 8.
In all three of those losses, Duke had a defensive breakdown in the final minute that reversed the result, like Virginia’s Reece Beekman hitting a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left or Florida State’s RayQuan Evans forcing overtime with a driving shot in the lane to beat the buzzer.
But those are the exceptions. Only Virginia has topped the point per possession mark against Duke in the Blue Devils’ last five games.
So why has Duke been so good? It goes back to what Brey said about all those bodies.
Having the ACC’s leading shot-blocker in 7-1 sophomore center Mark Williams is a great start. He’s swatted away 76 shots or 3.04 per game.
On the perimeter, Trevor Keels and Wendell Moore are making it hard for teams to get into their offensive sets.
Moore, the 6-5 junior forward, gets the assignment to guard the opposing team’s top scorer on many occasions.
“He’s got a huge wingspan to go along with being 6-5,” Krzyzewski said. “He moves his feet and he’s really worked on his lateral movement. He’s had some big time matchups for us that he’s done very well. He, to me, is one of the best defensive players in our conference.”
The 6-5, 221-pound Keels brings a sturdiness many other ACC guards can’t match. He injured his lower right leg during the loss at Florida State and missed the next three games. A starter for Duke’s first 17 games prior to the injury, he’s come off the bench since returning over the last five games beginning with the win at Notre Dame.
Brey saw that when his team hit only 3 of 18 3-pointers that night. Open shots were hard to come by and Williams helped if anyone managed to drive inside from the perimeter.
“They really took our shooters away and then they got the shot blocker back there when you turn the corner,” Brey said. “They swarmed us. We took some bad shots, some quick shots.”
To finish off a first-place finish in ACC play, the Blue Devils need to do more of that over their final six regular season games.
They’ve certainly shown the ability to do so.
