WATCH: Jaylen Blakes lobs alley oop to Dereck Lively for emphatic slam
The Duke Blue Devils have started to create some separation late in the first half against the Boston College Eagles on Saturday afternoon. One player who has found his rhythm in the first half has been freshman Dereck Lively II. Check out the alley-oop dunk he had on a beautiful lob from Jaylen Blakes.
The dunk by Lively put the Blue Devils up by six 22-16 with just over seven minutes left in the first half. Lively already had six points in the first half on 3 of 3 shooting from the field, while swatting two blocks. Duke’s Jacob Grandison has eight points on 3 of 5 shooting from the field in 10 minutes. The Blue Devils have stretched their lead to 12 points and lead Boston College 35-23 at halftime.
Boston College only shot 27.3% from the field in the first half. Duke has done an excellent job of sharing the basketball in the first half, dishing out 10 assists.
Dereck Lively is looking healthy lately for the Blue Devils. He suffered a lower leg injury during the preseason that kept him out of Duke’s season opener against the Jacksonville Dolphins. He played 14 minutes against South Carolina Upstate on November 11th.
The Philadelphia, Pa. native poured in 11 points against the Ohio State Buckeyes on November 30th–a season-high thus far. Lively has established himself as an elite shot blocker–averaging 1.5 blocks per game for the 2022 season.
Dereck Lively II was highly touted coming out of high school
The 7-foot-1, 200-pound center was the No. 1 overall player in America for the 2022 cycle, according to the On3 Consensus Rankings. Not surprisingly, the highly touted center was named as the Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year. He was named the 2022 Pennsylvania Gatorade Player of the Year, in addition to being named a McDonald’s All-American.