Duke basketball: Reinvigorated Eagles await reeling Blue Devils

Healthy Eagles present an obstacle to Duke basketball's first ACC road win.

The unranked Boston College Eagles (8-7, 2-2 ACC) that Duke basketball will face at 1 p.m. ET Saturday (ACCN) in Chestnut Hill, Mass., are not the same team the now-No. 16 Blue Devils (11-4, 2-2 ACC) defeated easily at home, 75-59, in early December.

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As first-year Duke head coach Jon Scheyer noted to Blue Devil play-by-play announcer David Shumate on Friday's "Duke Basketball Report" podcast, the Eagles are considerably healthier than before.

"The team is night and day," Scheyer said. "They really had three guys that were either injured during our game or before our game — or coming back from injury. They were missing two or three starters, key guys."

Boston College's leading scorer, graduate guard Makai Ashton-Langford, sustained a hamstring injury at Duke and played only nine minutes in that contest. Meanwhile, senior 7-footer Quinten Post has averaged 9.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in his first two games this season after missing the Eagles' first 13 outings with a foot injury.

Plus, freshman forward Prince Aligbe, now a starter averaging 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds, saw only four minutes of action against the Blue Devils last time in his first game back from a three-week absence with a high ankle sprain.

Moreover, second-year Boston College head coach Earl Grant has a noticeably more confident bunch, boasting wins in three of its past four games. That includes Tuesday night's 70-63 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the Conte Forum, where the Eagles are now 2-0 this season in conference play.

Home Court Defended ✅ pic.twitter.com/SQADPvJqyc

— BC Men's Basketball (@BCMBB) January 5, 2023

Conversely, unlike last time, Duke basketball isn't coming off a heartening home win against the now-No. 24 Ohio State Buckeyes. Instead, the Blue Devils are reeling ahead of this meeting with Boston College following Wednesday night's sickening 84-60 road loss to the unranked NC State Wolfpack.

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Duke, likely to fall out of the AP Top 25 regardless of Saturday's outcome, is now 0-2 on the road against ACC foes and in danger of falling to 0-3.

"The best chance we have to get where we want to go is to look in the mirror and figure out what we all have to do individually first to get better," Scheyer told Shumate. "And that's what is important to me right now."

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