Duke basketball hands Notre Dame first home loss of season. Trevor Keels returns
Notre Dame’s first sellout crowd in three years offered the hope of an electric atmosphere for No. 9 Duke’s visit to Purcell Pavilion Monday night.
The Irish’s inability to hit shots dimmed the enthusiasm, and the Blue Devils waltzed to an easy win.
Paolo Banchero scored 21 points with nine rebounds as Notre Dame shot a frigid 27.9% and the Blue Devils posted an 57-43 ACC basketball win.
Freshman AJ Griffin added 13 points and nine rebounds for Duke, which shot just 39.4% itself. The Blue Devils made just 3 of 19 3-pointers but won handily anyway as the Irish shot far worse.
“Well, we played really good defense,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “And, to me, that was the story in the game. With a one-day preparation, (Notre Dame) can be an offensive juggernaut. They’ve been playing so well, and they’re all in together. And tonight we were able to defend them. Our big guys did an excellent job.”
The win moves Duke (18-3, 8-2 ACC) into a tie with Miami (16-5, 8-2) atop the ACC standings. The Blue Devils will not only carry a four-game winning streak into their game at rival North Carolina on Saturday night, they’ll face the Tar Heels back at full strength.
Freshman guard Trevor Keels, after missing the last three games with a right leg injury, returned Monday to play for Duke. The 6-foot-5 Keels scored three points while playing 27 minutes.
Notre Dame (14-7, 7-3 ACC) hit just 17 of 61 shots from the field, including 3 of 18 on 3-pointers. The Irish didn’t make their first 3-pointer until 13:21 remained the game and Duke held a 42-20 lead.
Mark Williams, Duke’s 7-1 sophomore center, finished with eight rebounds and three of Duke’s six blocked shots.
“They’re hard to play against,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “They really took our shooters away and then they got the shot blocker back there when you turn the corner. Defensively, (giving up) 57 to an explosive Duke team? I’m thinking we’re gonna be alright. They they swarmed us.”
Paul Atkinson scored 14 points to lead Notre Dame.
The Blue Devils led 27-14 at halftime and pushed their lead to 20 points for the first time on Banchero’s baseline jumper for a 40-20 lead with 14:42 to play.
“We had a good game plan coming in,” Banchero said. “We knew they were a great 3-point shooting team so we wanted to run them off the line. With our bigs, we wanted to protect the paint. Protecting the paint and keeping them off that 3-point line. We did a good job.”
Theo John, Duke’s 6-9 reserve center, contributed two blocked shots with nine rebounds and six points.
The Irish hit just six field goals in the first half, shooting 18.8% from the field while missing all eight of their 3-point attempts. Their 14 points marked the lowest first-half output for any game during Brey’s tenure as Notre Dame head coach, which began with the 2000-01 season.
Duke shot 37.5% in the first half, a poor 20 minutes for a Blue Devils’ team shooting 48.8% for the season. But Duke scored the last nine points of the half to take a 27-14 lead to intermission.
“I think a key part of the game was the end of the first half,” Krzyzewski said. “We went on a 9-0 run with our bench out on the court. Theo, Bates (Jones), Joey (Baker), they did a heck of a job. And we got that double digit lead and we’re able to maintain the defensive intensity throughout.”
Keels made his first appearance since suffering a calf injury during a Jan. 18 loss at Florida State. The freshman entered the game off the bench at 14:48 and played the reminder of the first half.
Banchero and Griffin scored seven points each to lead Duke in the first half.
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 8:54 PM.