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No. 8 Duke uses balanced effort to get past Boston College in Coach K’s first game out

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Playing its first game without head coach Mike Krzyzewski, No. 8 Duke raced out to a double-digit lead and held on for a 93-82 win on Saturday in the ACC.

The Blue Devils received a balanced effort in this one as six players finished in double-figures, led by freshman Jayson Tatum with 22 points. In his second game back from suspension, junior Grayson Allen once again played more of a facilitator role as he finished with 12 points and 11 assists while going 5-for-9 from the field.

Freshman Frank Jackson added 15 points for the Blue Devils while forward Harry Giles continues to progress in his recovery as he went 5-for-8 from the field to also finish with 12 points. Amile Jefferson chipped in 11 points while Matt Jones finished with 10.

Considering that All-American candidate Luke Kennard (nine points, 2-for-6 shooting) only looked like a role player, it shows you how deep this Duke team can look at times with Giles now on the floor.

Duke (14-2, 2-1) struggled a little bit in the second half to put away a feisty Boston College team, but this one never was seriously in concern. Interim coach Jeff Capel is now 1-0 this season as he was able to get through the first-game jitters of coaching this team without Coach K (back surgery) for the next month or so.

The Eagles (8-8, 1-2) had a solid rally in the second half but ultimately fell short as Jerome Robinson had 21 points and Ky Bowman had 19 points.

This win for Duke ultimately won’t mean much outside of being Coach K’s first game away from the sidelines. But it’s nice to get this game out of the way before an important road stretch that includes road games at Florida State and Louisville next week. Those two games should really tell us where Duke is at for these next few weeks without its coach.