Duke Basketball: 5 Eye-Popping Stats from Blue Devils in 2015-16

In the grand scheme of things, the only numbers that really matter for Duke are the wins (eight, so far) and losses (one). It's not really that simple, though, as college basketball is so statistically driven that you have to pay attention to all the figures to get a true understanding of how a team is performing.

And this early in a season, some numbers tend to stand out more than others.

Duke's first nine games have resulted in some notable stats. Some don't figure to remain as good over the long run, others are in need of much improvement in order for the defending national champion to have a shot at repeating that title.

Grayson Allen's 21.8 Points Per Game

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Grayson Allen has already tallied more points in 2015-16 than he did as a freshman, when he played just over nine minutes per game and didn't play a significant role until the Final Four. Now he's Duke's leading scorer by a wide margin, 8.1 points per game ahead of freshman Brandon Ingram.

Allen established a career high in scoring four times in the Blue Devils' first five games, and since then he's averaged 18.5 points and most recently went 5-of-15 from the field in a 22-point effort against Buffalo.

Duke's leading scorer last season was Jahlil Okafor, at 17.3. The last 20-point-per-game scorer the Blue Devils had was Nolan Smith, at 20.6, in 2010-11.

Amile Jefferson Averaging a Double-Double

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Amile Jefferson was in Duke's starting lineup for the first two-thirds of last season before Justise Winslow was slid over into his power forward spot. He finished the year averaging 6.1 points and 5.8 rebounds, but even before heading to the bench he wasn't in there for his production.

Which makes the fact that the 6'9” senior is averaging a double-double through nine games that much more astounding.

Jefferson is at 11.4 points and a team-high 10.3 rebounds, the latter ranking 20th in Division I entering Tuesday night's action. He's shooting 68.3 percent, which would be eighth-best in the country if he'd taken enough shots to qualify.

Most of Jefferson's points have come off offensive rebounds, of which he has 43 so far. The rest of Duke's players have 83, with fellow frontcourt starter Marshall Plumlee second on the team with 18.

Jefferson pulled down 91 offensive boards all of last season, but so far this year he's had at least four in seven of nine games.

42.1 Team Assist Percentage

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A good indicator of balanced and efficient offense is assist percentage, an advanced statistic that measures how many made field goals come off passes. The higher it is, the more sharing a team does, while a lower rate could mean too much one-on-one play.

At this point in the season, Duke is assisting on 42.1 percent of its baskets, 112 of 261. That ranks 334th out of 351 Division I teams through Monday's action. Only three of the 17 teams below Duke have winning records and seven were either winless or had just a single victory.

There are two main reasons for this low rate: points scored off putbacks and point guard play.

The first one isn't in any way a bad thing, since Jefferson and Plumlee are getting a lot of easy scores by grabbing missed shots and going right back up. The latter, though, is indicative of Duke's lack of a true point guard on the floor at most times.

Freshman Derryck Thornton, who has started only three games, has 24 assists in 224 minutes. Allen is the team assist leader, with 27, but he's also the leading scorer.

12.1 Team Turnover Percentage

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After replacing four starters from the national championship team and bringing in seven newcomers, one of Duke's concerns coming into this season was the ability to take care of the ball. Yet the Blue Devils only turn the ball over 10.2 times per game, and their turnover percent—the amount of turnovers per 100 per play—sits at 12.1 and ranks eighth in the country.

Duke's turnover percentage last season was 14.1, and that was over the course of 39 games with its strong lineup playing like a group of veterans down the stretch.

The rotation Duke has used this season is older than what it went with to start last season, with two seniors, a junior and a sophomore on the floor to start most games. And it's the freshman, Ingram, who has the most turnovers (16) so far in 2015-16.

57.0 Free-Throw Percentage from Frontcourt

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The troubles that Okafor had at the line last season were well-documented, the center making only 51 percent of his free throws to where opponents were deliberately fouling him rather than give up an easy basket. Overall, Duke shot 69.9 percent in 2014-15. Without Okafor that rate was 75.3 percent.

Early on, the foul-shooting issues that Okafor dealt with appear to have spread to every forward and center on the roster. Starters Ingram, Jefferson and Plumlee are a combined 65 of 115 from the line, 56.5 percent. Throw in the limited contributions of freshmen Chase Jeter and Antonio Vrankovic and sophomore Sean Obi and the rate climbs only to 57 percent.

The Blue Devils shoot 71.8 percent as a team thanks to Allen's 90.6 percent and Luke Kennard's 95.2 percent. Matt Jones and Thornton are both at or above 75 percent.

The frontcourt has attempted 128 foul shots to 124 for the backcourt, so this group needs to get better or the inside game will struggle.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.