Monday Musings: Duke Looks to Bounce Back with Busy Weekend

Busy Weekend on Tap

The Blue Devils play two games in three days this weekend, hosting Richmond Friday night and Furman Sunday afternoon. Duke and the Spiders face off Feb. 28 at 5 p.m., on ACC Network, while the Paladins come to Durham for a 1 p.m., contest Sunday.
This is the first home game for the Blue Devils since Feb. 1 and Dukes third straight against a top-20 opponent. The Blue Devils are 1-1 against ranked opponents this season and 118-59 since 2006.

Early Season Scoring Streaks

A host of Blue Devils is riding early season point streaks after four games, with a couple carrying over from the 2019 campaign. Seniors CJ Carpenter and Joey Manown lead the way, pushing their scoring streaks to 11 and seven games, respectively. Carpenter has 23 goals and 10 assists for 33 points in 11 consecutive games dating back to April 6, 2019. Meanwhile, Manown has 14 goals and 17 points overall during his seven-game stretch.

Owen Caputo has at least two points in all four games this season and posted hat tricks in each of the past two weeks. Rookie Dyson Williams has scored at least one goal in all four of his collegiate outings and Cameron Badour has a point in all four games after registering a point in five of 12 games last year.

Buffalo Bandits Honor Williams Family Again

The Buffalo Bandits of the National Lacrosse League is honoring honor the family of Dyson Williams for its game this weekend, auctioning off No. 51 jerseys in recognition of the late Tucker Williams, Dyson's younger brother, who passed away to lymphoma in 2014.
Shawn Williams, Dyson's dad, was a star forward for the Bandits, and appeared in six NLL All-Star games during his career. He played with the Bandits in 2000, 2001 and against in 2013 and 2014.

It's more than a game. Saturday we all play for Tucker. #BraverThanBrave

Bidding is open now for our special Tucker Out Lymphoma Night jerseys: https://t.co/nufMti296H pic.twitter.com/Go0lf1TQ4S
— Buffalo Bandits (@NLLBandits) February 23, 2020

Duke Falls in Rankings

Following a tough 14-11 loss to No. 7 Penn, Duke fell to No. 13 in both the USILA and Inside Lacrosse rankings. The Blue Devils have six top-20 opponents remaining, including four in the top 10.
Duke has been ranked in the top 20 every week since falling out of the polls after dropping to 2-4 with a 16-7 loss to Maryland March 2, 2013. Duke returned to the rankings March 10, 2013, putting Duke's ranked streak at six years, 11 months and 14 days or 2,542 days.

Tyler Carpenter Standing Out as a Rookie

Freshman longstick midfielder Tyler Carpenter continues to excel on the defensive end for the Blue Devils, averaging two caused turnovers per game. He is fourth among all freshman and tied for 22nd nationally. He is third in the ACC and first among conference rookies.
Carpenter has at least one caused turnover in all four games and multiple in three of the four. He leads the team with eight.

Man-Down Defense Among the Finest

Duke's man-down unit is among the best through four games this season. The Blue Devils rank first in the ACC and 11th nationally with a .833 success rate. The Blue Devils have allowed two extra-man goals on 12 attempts this season. Four teams are perfect, including future opponent Loyola.

Taking Care of the Ball Struggles

Duke, with 25 turnovers against Penn last weekend, has struggled at times taking care of the ball. The Blue Devils are averaging 18.50 turnovers per game this season, the most of any team in the ACC and ranking 58th of 73 teams nationally. The fourth quarter has been the toughest for Duke, giving away possession 25 times. In both of Duke's losses, it was outscored by its opponent in the final frame.

#GoDuke

Players Mentioned

Cameron Badour

Owen Caputo

CJ Carpenter

Tyler Carpenter

Joey Manown

Dyson Williams

Duke information

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