Duke staves off fatigue in win over Georgia Tech
Duke fought off fatigue and 12 day layover to defeat Georgia Tech, 69-57.
DURHAM, N.C. — Duke’s return to the court after 12 days away was not exactly riveting. It did result in a win, nonetheless, as the Blue Devils knocked off Georgia Tech 69-57.
Duke was not exactly playing polished basketball as one might expect after COVID-19 breached the basketball program and forced a long layover following the team’s holiday break. The same can be said for the Yellow Jackets, who missed 10 days between games.
“That was an exhausting game because both teams played really hard defensively and that’s what saved it for us,” Mike Krzyzewski said. “The lack of practice, the lack of conditioning really had its impact — and they did — on our offensive execution, and shots, free throws. But it did not defensively and rebounding wise.”
Shooting woes marred the team for much of the game, particularly in the first half, and the fluidity we have grown accustomed to through the first half of the season was frequently absent as well.
Even still, a win for the Blue Devils never really felt to be in jeopardy, though Georgia Tech did make things interesting in the final seven minutes. After trailing by 14 points with 7:39 left in the game, the Yellow Jackets put together a 12-3 run to climb to within six points, 58-52, with just 3:18 remaining.
Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe scored nine of his team’s 12 points during the stretch.
Duke put a stop to Devoe’s streak, and in the process ended Georgia Tech’s threat. The Blue Devils went on a quick 7-0 run over a 1:25 span, pushing their lead back to 13 with just 1:33 to go. At that point, the Yellow Jackets turned to fouling with the hopes of clawing back into the game, but AJ Griffin and Jeremy Roach connected on four free throws to closeout the night.
While those final seven-plus minutes provided some interesting basketball, the game never found a rhythm, at least offensively. Defensively, both teams performed at a much higher level, particularly the Blue Devils.
“When we played Ohio State, we got tired — it was more from travel,” Krzyzewski said. “And they made you tired. And we stopped playing defense. Tonight we did not do that. We talked about it at halftime. I told them, I know you guys are tired, but you cannot be tired on the defensive end. It can’t be Ohio State where we give up buckets like that.”
Mark Williams Hits the Glass
Mark Williams entered the season with high expectations from himself. He also had them from his coaches, teammates and much of the Duke fan base. That can be a difficult thing, particularly for a guy playing in just his second season and his first in a more “normal” college basketball season.
Now, it’s not to say Williams is having a bad or disappointing season, just maybe not quite the consistent showing most anticipated. This is probably mostly true when it comes to rebounding.
“Mark has not rebounded well, and tonight he rebounded great,” Krzyzewsski said. “That was a big game for Mark.”
Prior to the holiday break, Williams told us that it was all about having a mentality to dominate the backboards. He noted that he needed to be stronger and more assertive in blocking out and going for the ball.
He did exactly that tonight, pulling down aa game-high 14 rebounds, leading Duke to its most impressive showing on the glass all season where they out-rebounded Georgia Tech 48-35.
“Coach really emphasized (rebounding) the past couple days, just the lack of rebounding. The 14 I had today, I probably didn’t get 14 the last couple games combined. I think I didn’t do that great of a job rebounding the last couple games. I tried to put a little more focus on it tonight.
Williams added 10 points and three blocks to his 14 rebounds, all of which came in just 20 minutes of game action. He was one of four Blue Devils to score in double figures, and was joined by Paolo Banhcero, who grabbed 11 rebounds, in dominating the boards.
Having been away from the court for 12 days, and been a team hit hard by COVID-19, Williams said he knew rebounding and defense would have to be a point of emphasis if they hoped to leave Cameron Indoor with the victory.
“Not saying I was expecting misses, but we were on a long break, we hadn’t played since the Virginia Tech game on the 22nd, so it’s obviously different. We didn’t get to practice, but obviously a game is different from practice.”
Getting to the Free Throw Line
One of the best remedies for a team struggling on offense is to get to the free throw line. And Duke did exactly that, though the Blue Devils did not exactly capitalize on its opportunities as efficiently as they would have hoped.
Duke attempted 40 free throws, making just 26 — good for 65% in the game. Some of that, too, can likely be attributed to fatigue, as Duke made just 57% in the second half after knocking down 73.7% in the first.
When comparing that to Georgia Tech’s 9-of-12 showing from the charity stripe, it’s clear Duke did enough from the free throw line to be a major difference in the outcome.
Duke had three super aggressive players — Banchero, Jeremy Roach and AJ Griffin. Each one put a tremendous amount of pressure on the Yellow Jackets, combining for 22 drawn fouls. As a result, Roach was 7-of-9 from the line, Griffin was 5-of-8 and Banchero was 9-of-16.
The Blue Devils’ effort fouled out Khalid Moore and Kyle Sturdivant, while forcing Saba Gigiberia into four fouls and four others into three apiece.
Griffin Continues to Emerge
At risk of sounding like a broken record, we continue to see Griffin advance his game and become more and more of a force for the Blue Devils.
Tuesday night, the freshman finished the day as Duke’s second leading scorer with 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting, and as previously mentioned, 5-of-8 from the free throw line.
In addition to his offensive effort, Griffin continues to improve on defense and becoming a strong contributor on the glass. By game’s end, he was third on the team with six rebounds, including three on the offensive glass. Defensively, much of how he contributed won’t show up in the box score, though he did have one of Duke’s eight blocked shots.
“AJ’s only practiced one day. He had worked his butt off since the Ohio State game,” Krzyzewski noted. “Everyday individual work, extra. And he’s climbing.
“He’s a guy you really didn’t want to see have this stoppage, and still he responded. And he’ll continue to get better. He’s done a really good job.”
Duke has a lot to work on, did before they break. But the ceiling is still extremely high and we have 18 games in conference to become that well oiled and highly efficient machine we know they can be. Defensively, we have the ability to be lethal. We have great ball pressure and rim protection capabilities. We’ve seen it on numerous occasions. It has to become consistent. Wendell will be back once he gets going again, so with him, Paolo, and now AJ, I can’t think of three better players at their position when they all play together. At the end of games we have a death lineup.
AJ continues to look more comfortable with each game. I like having the depth of both he and Keels available as options. Both are good shooters and strong finishers who can defend multiple positions.