Duke's toughness on full display Thursday
For the second game in a row, Duke showed a high level of toughness and heart that carried them to victory.
There’s been a relatively consistent point of conversation this season when considering the 2021-22 Duke basketball team. Their toughness has been questioned. The narrative about Coach K’s final year adding extra pressure has been prevalent since day one of the season.
The doubters have been extra loud.
In fact, each of the last two games, prognosticators, pundits, talking heads — you name it — has been picking against Duke. With each new team the Blue Devils face, there’s always something new to talk about that Duke cannot do well, or will have trouble with when playing Team X.
We’ve been guilty of some of these things here at BCH.
But it’s time to put some of the toughness questions to rest. It’s time to leave the “Coach K’s potential final this or that” storyline alone. And it’s unequivocally time to stop pondering the heart of this team, or its will to win.
Thursday night — and for the second time in as many games — Duke took their opponent’s best shot on the big stage and responded with one of the most beautiful stretches of basketball you could ask for in an NCAA Tournament game. The result was a 78-73 victory and a trip to the Elite Eight.
For the final 8:19 of the game, Duke was perfect from the field, making 8-of-8 shot attempts to seal the win. In fact, the Blue Devils’ last missed shot of the game came at the 8:54 mark of the second half — a Mark Williams layup attempt that was blocked.
During that same stretch, Duke was 8 of 10 from the free throw line, including a flawless 5 of 5 in the final 25 seconds of the game.
Texas Tech, on the other hand, connected on just two of its final six shot attempts from the 2:36 point on. During that same stretch in which the Blue Devils didn’t miss a shot, the Red Raiders were 6 of 15 from the field. While that number is not terrible (40%) from the floor, it’s not much of a match for 100% shooting.
Enough about Texas Tech’s offense, though. Let’s look at what Duke did to one of the best defenses in the nation.
Texas Tech entered the game ranked No. 4 in the nation in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot just 38.2%.
Duke’s first half performance certainly supported what the statistics said about Texas Tech’s defense. Mike Krzyzewski’s team shot just 36.7% from the fielding 27.3% from 3-point range. The box score alone would make anyone who didn’t watch the game believe this was just another case of Texas Tech imposing its will.
The real story, however, is Duke got the shots it wanted. They just weren’t hitting them. The Blue Devils had plenty of good looks in the first half, and while probably the first five minutes worth of misses can be attributed to nerves, the rest of the half was just an example of team that was ice cold shooting the basketball.
Was Texas Tech’s defense good? Yes. They made Duke work, but ultimately they were getting the shots they wanted.
Then in the second half, the Blue Devils torched Texas Tech, making 70.8% of their shots, including 50% from 3. That 70.8% was the highest shooting percentage in a half against Texas Tech all season long.
This team was clutch down the stretch and it won because of its heart, toughness and not wanting to end their season, not just Coach K’s.
JEREMY ROACH TAKES OVER
Roach’s transformation since the middle of February has been extraordinary. His confidence has been off the charts and he has been the catalyst for Duke in each of its last two games.
This has been particularly true in the second half.
Without Roach, Duke does not win either the second round matchup with Michigan State or the Sweet 16 battle with Texas Tech.
“The resolve of Jeremy Roach was incredible,” Krzyzewski said. “His drives against that defense were so strong, so determined.”
Indeed. His play in the second half turned the game in Duke’s favor.
Roach put relentless pressure on the Texas Tech defense. Ball screens left the Red Raiders’ with bigs trying to defend the sophomore, and he did not hesitate to attack and take them to the hoop. And once he did, he was decisive with the basketball. He either went to the rim with a layup, pulled up for a floater in the paint or found an open teammate.
It was a true thing of beauty. The result was 11 second half points off 5 of 7 shooting, and a high level of confidence that spread throughout the rest of the team.
He concluded the game with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while also dishing out five assists and grabbing four rebounds.
“He has always been able to step up in big moments, and so we trust him 100%,” Paolo Banchero said. “We've trusted him the whole year. Gonzaga, he made big plays down the stretch. Every game he has stepped up in the clutch, so we trust Jeremy 100%.
“We know that's what he does. He is comfortable out there all the time, and so when the ball is in his hands, we're comfortable, and we know it's -- have you ever seen it get taken from him? Exactly. That's all that needs to be said.”
PAOLO BANCHERO DOMINANT IN SECOND HALF
If we’re comparing half to half, there’s not a ton of difference when it comes to scoring statistics for Banchero. He scored 11 points in each half.
He was a force and undoubtedly made plays in the first 20 minutes to help keep Texas Tech within arms reach in spite of the team’s overall shooting woes.
In the second half, though, he came to his 11 points by looking like a pro playing against college kids. He was 4 of 5 from the file, including 2 of 2 from beyond the arc. He also added three assists in the half. It was all about the way he score buckets, though.
Like Roach, he made big time shots in critical moments. In fact, some of the shots he made were simply spectacular. And they all came with the pressure of a tight game and an opponent not willing to give in and hand over a victory.
If there’s ever been a moment where you could see a team and a player making every decision with zero fear — Thursday night provided it.
“Paolo did a couple of things tonight that he has never done in his life, and he did it instinctually,” Krzyzewski said. “He just wanted to win so badly, and it was so beautiful to see.”
MARK WILLIAMS, WENDELL MOORE AND AJ GRIFFIN
All three of these guys struggled in the first half in various ways. We won’t rehash those out. Instead, we’ll focus on what they brought to the table overall.
First, let’s start with Griffin. It was not his best game — really in either half. But Krzyzewski was calling on Griffin all game long to be confident and take his shots. While Griffin was not his normal lights out shooter, he continued to look to make plays, which put pressure on the Texas Tech defense and forced them to continue worrying about what he could do.
He also came up big with a pair of free throws in the final moments of the game. Griffin eventually finished with 11 points and seven rebounds.
Moore has some outstanding moments in the second half. In fact, he was a perfect 2 of 2 from the field and 3 of 3 from the free throw line.
Like with Griffin, the threat of his scoring abilities really put Texas Tech in a position to defend him closely and not shift all of their attention to Roach and Banchero, who were just killing them in the second half.
Moore posted 12 points for the game, while also adding four rebounds and two assists.
Williams was perhaps the star of this trio. He finished the game with 16 points on 6 of 9 shooting, posted eight rebounds and three blocks. He was 4 of 4 from the free throw line in the second half, including a pair in the closing moments of the game.
He posted 12 points in the half, and had one critical block in the second half.
“Boy, my guys are really doing a great job,” Krzyzewski said. “They're really doing a great job, and we beat guys who were doing a great job on the other team.”