Duke rolls over Georgia Tech
Yellow Jackets fight hard but Blue Devils hold on to prevail 80-69
Georgia Tech (11-13,4-7) hosted #9 Duke Sunday night at McCamish Pavilion, with the home team taking the loss, 80-69. Duke never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 9 point lead in the opening minutes to help build 17 point bulge at the half, 43-26.
The only real drama came with inside the 7-minute mark when a rebound dunk by Moses Wright brought Tech to within 12. But Duke answered with a 3 pointer by Trevor Duval off an assist by Grayson Allen, pushing the lead back to 15 with 6:33 to go. The Jackets continued to play hard, pushing the pace and narrowing the lead to 10 on an Evan Cole dunk at the 1:41 mark. But Allen sank 2 free throws on the next possession and Duke was not challenged thereafter.
Sophomore Josh Okogie led Tech with 29 points, earning the praise of Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who noted that “Okogie makes things happen and gives his whole team confidence.” Coach K also noted the strong performances turned in by previously little-used Tech reserves Evan Cole and Moses Wright, noting that “Josh [Pastner] may have found something in this game.”
Cole had a career-high 10 points and Wright added 9 for Tech. Their extended playing time was a direct result of an elbow injury suffered by Tech point guard Jose Alvarado with about 8 minutes left in the first half. Alvarado would not return and his status for the remainder of the season is questionable pending medical evaluation of the injury. For the last several games, Pastner had kept a strict 6 man rotation, featuring Tadric Jackson off the bench.
Noting the Alvarado injury, Pastner said “We’ve been snakebit this year”, citing a variety of issues, including Justin Moore and Curtis Harwood injuries and early season suspensions to Okogie and Jackson.
When asked about his own ability to focus solely on basketball given his ongoing legal dispute with “super fan” (and former friend) Ron Bell, Pastner said simply, “I know the truth.”
Each team came into this game looking to reverse a 2 game skid. Like Tech, Duke was short-handed this night, missing leading scorer Marvin Bagley who was out with an ankle injury. Coach K noted that his freshmen class has a lot of talent, but they are still learning to communicate effectively. Look out when they do, as the Blue Devil frosh have scored 84% of the team’s total points over the last 7 games. That array of talent led Tech’s Pastner to state that Duke could very well challenge for the national title in March.
Next up: Georgia Tech travels to Wake Forest on Wednesday. Duke hosts Virginia Tech that same day.