Jackets Fight Hard, Fall To Duke

Blue Devils’ Depth, Crowd Fuel 2nd Half Surge In 66-53 Home Win

Georgia Tech showed up at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham on Saturday spoiling for a fight. They came in, as Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski later said, “….ready to play”. And for roughly 25 minutes of game time, they played well enough to lead the nation’s 2nd-ranked team by as much as 7 points, in one of the toughest venues in all of college sports no less.

An ominous quote in the lobby of Cameron reminds visitors that a game at Duke is “the toughest road game in America.”

From the opening tip, Tech’s vaunted defense was at full throttle, forcing turnovers and holding Duke to miserably low shooting percentages-30% overall and only 8% (1 of 12) from behind the arc. Tech’s 11 first-half fouls and the resulting 10 of 12 free-throw shooting are what kept Duke in the game. And after halftime, it was Tech that came out fast, popping in 6 points to push the lead to 8. It stayed at 8 for another minute.

Then the clock struck midnight and Duke found it’s footing. Cam Reddish hit a 3 pointer–his only basket of the game (1 of 11)-followed quickly by a Tre Jones layup. Then the Cameron Crazies did what they do, the place went wild and the tide turned.

Mike Krzyzewski said “We beat a really good team today.”

Following an early timeout during which the Duke players received some energetic “external motivation” from their legendary coach , their famed transition game came alive to produce those 5 quick points. This little offensive burst revved up a frustrated crowd that had grown grumbly watching Duke struggle against an middling opponent they had considered to be a check-off victory on the long league schedule on a random Saturday in January. And when Tech was unable to answer that burst with any substantive offense, the mini-rout was on. Duke finished the game on a 35-15 surge, coming the 38-31 lead Tech had held a little over 4 minutes into second half.

It did not help Tech’s cause that both of their post players fouled out. Forward AD Gueye led Tech in scoring with 14 points in his 29 minutes. His teammate James Banks III played only 20 minutes, scoring a mere 4 points and getting just 2 rebounds to go with his 5 fouls. Both Gueye and Banks were active on defense but each logged his third foul before halftime.

Seeing those numbers, it’s easy to wonder how Tech led by 2 at half and by 7 with 18 minutes to go. The answer was their defense.” It’s who we are”, said Tech coach Josh Pastner, proudly. He saluted his team’s hard work. That Tech defense produced season lows for Duke in total points scored and in shooting percentages (41% overall, 9.5% from distance). Those are great numbers for any defense, let alone against a ridiculously talented team like the Blue Devils. But in spite of that great defensive play, Tech lives on such a narrow margin offensively that any missteps or mishaps will tilt the outcome. Such as….Duke’s center Marques Bolden playing only 11 minutes, dogged by a sore toe. In his forced absence, the resulting smaller Duke line-up ironically yielded better production on inside shooting against Tech’s 2 big men.

Both Pastner and Coach Krzyzewski cited Tech’s strong defensive work. But Krzyzewski could also tell that his guys were out of synch. He lauded Tech’s effort, but carefully noted that the early start time and Trey Jones’ return to line-up played roles in his team’s sluggishness in the first half. When that trend showed again early 2nd as Tech ran off a 9-4 burst, he called for the pause to rally his troops. ” I thought we were in a trance”, he said. He later cited his team’s awareness of their own poor first-half play–and their ability to right the ship as a key to the win. After the timeout, he said,” we played great.”

Duke scoring was led by RJ Barrett with 24 and Zion Williamson with 22. Those two shot a combined 17 of 28 from the floor, with most of those points coming in the second half. Their teammates in aggregate hit only 7 of 30 otherwise. No other Blue Devil scored in double figures.

For Tech, Gueye led with 14. Michael Devoe finished with 11, and Jose Alvarado and Evan Cole each added 7. For the game, Tech was only 2 of 6 at the free throw line vs Duke’s 16-19.

Josh Pastner saluted Duke players and Coach K in the loss. He bemoaned the spate of “live-ball turnovers” his team produced in the 2nd half. He also noted that Tre Jones “made a difference defensively” in his return to the line-up.

“We executed our plan. Our team fights hard”, said Josh Pastner of his Yellow Jackets.

Pastner also praised the play of Zion Williamson, saying .”he overpowered our guys ; he’s really good.”

The smooth shooting style of Zion Williamson shows here on his free throw technique.

Pastner said his team needs better regular production from the big men as a tandem, and he needs more consistency from James Banks, who played only 20 minutes due to foul trouble.

Mike Krzyzewski spoke highly of his team’s improved defensive effort in the second half leading to their turnaround. He then expounded upon the importance of getting tangible gains from defensive effort–producing not just steals and blocks, but actual points. “When you’re in transition, you’ve got to either score the bucket or make the foul shots-or both”, he said. “You can’t come up empty in transition, because”..he hesitated and then finished his thought with a rhetorical question–“well, how hard did you work to get there?” His point being that effective defensive work is very taxing, both physically and mentally. With that requisite cost, it needs to bear fruit. That’s a good principle not just for Duke, but for any basketball team, including-and maybe even especially-Georgia Tech.

Tech plays UNC on Tuesday at McCamish Pavilion. The Yellow Jackets will be looking to gain ACC win #4 against the 9th-ranked Tar Heels.

Patrick Conarro

RamblinSports.com