Ohio State stuns Duke 71-66

Duke's self-inflicted second half offensive woes lead to the team's first loss of the season.

Wendell Moore Jr. led Duke with 17 points and 8 rebounds (Photo: Duke Athletics).

Duke’s first true road game did not go as most expected, or as the Blue Devils planned, with Ohio State pulling off the 71-66 upset in Columbus. 

And if we’re being honest, it should have never ended the way it did. 

But the Blue Devils were determined to lose this game in the final 20 minutes of play, and they did just that. Duke held the game in its open palms for Ohio State to take, and though the Buckeyes seemed reluctant to do so — the Blue Devils somehow held them at arms length for most of the final half — they finally conceded and accepted Duke’s good will and left the arena with a shocking victory. 

Are we being a bit dramatic? Yeah, probably, but in taking a look at how this game played out, a lot went wrong and much of it was self inflicted. 

Yes, the referees’ whistles were free flowing — Duke had four players with four fouls, one with five and another with two. Some were legitimate, others were not. And while the fouls undoubtedly changed how Duke approached the game, the loss cannot be blamed strictly on the whistles.

Duke was certainly unable to be as aggressive on the defensive end of the floor as it would have liked to be, but it was not so much that Ohio State was an immovable force on offense as it was the Blue Devils’ lack of flow when the ball was in their own hands. 

In fact, it’s safe to say the second half was Duke’s worst offensive performance of the season. No ball movement. Frequent ISO dribble drives into traffic with forced shots. A consistently frantic pace. Rushed possessions. Settling for bad shots. 

That list could continue, but we’ll stop there. Let the numbers speak for themselves. 

Duke shot just 7-of-31 (22.6%) from the field and 1-of-8 from 3-point range (12.5%) in the second half. Paolo Banchero was off his game offensively for most of the night, particularly in those final 20 minutes when he went 0-of-7 from the field. 

The Blue Devils’ only true threat on offense in the second half was Wendell Moore Jr., and despite a brief sequence that looked as if the junior co-captain was going to put Duke on his back, even he connected on just 3-of-9 shooting. 

Typically when we talk about a team being rushed or out of control on offense, large turnover numbers coincide with it. This, surprisingly, wasn’t the case, as Duke turned the ball over just three times in the second half. 

In the end it was simply atrocious offensive basketball that did them in. And to the Buckeye’s credit, they continued to do their thing, unspectacular as it was, and the result was the stunning upset. 

Ohio State led for just 5:59, with 4:58 of that time coming in the first half alone. Duke had the Buckeyes on the ropes after an explosive run to end the first half that put Mike Krzyzewski’s team ahead by as many as 14 points, and eventually 13 at halftime (Duke led by 15 as many as three times in the second half). 

Paolo Banchero was 0-of-7 from the field in the second half (Photo: Duke Athletics).

To that point, Duke had methodically broken down the Buckeyes. Though Duke’s ball movement was not great in the first half either, it at least featured a little more cohesion and method to the madness. In fact, seven Blue Devils scored in the opening half behind 52.9% shooting from the field. 

Duke was taking good shots, and spreading the wealth throughout with Banchero and Moore leading the way with 10 points apiece and Jeremy Roach (7 points), Trevor Keels (5 points), Joey Baker (5 points) and Theo John (four points) all providing Duke quality production. 

It was not offense at the same level in which we witnessed against Gonzaga, but it was good enough. This is particularly true when considering Duke’s defense was very disruptive in the opening 20 minutes. 

The Blue Devils forced nine first half turnovers, converting them into 13 points. Five of those turnovers came via the steal, with Keels tallying two, and Moore, Banchero and Baker each recording one in the half. Ohio State leaned on EJ Liddell and Zed Key in the first half, who scored eight and nine points, respectively. But only Key seemed to be a player Duke had no real answer for in most scenarios. 

Liddell was good, but Duke did a solid job of limiting his touches and not allowing easy looks at the basket. Not a lot changed in that regard in the second half for the Buckeyes. The 3-ball did become a problem with Ohio State knocking down 5-of-10 in the half, but again, Liddell was limited in his shot attempts. He did, however, hurt Duke with four second half assists, but the execution in preventing him from getting easy looks was on point for most of the night. 

Key continued to play well in the second half for Ohio State, but nothing eye-popping that would lead one to believe Ohio State had the firepower to simply go toe-to-toe with Duke. 

Ultimately it was Duke’s porous offense. It’s difficult to say how much Ohio State’s grit, and physicality played into Duke’s offensive woes in the second half — surely to some degree it did — but shot selection and a rushed brand of individualistic basketball appeared to be the biggest culprit of the second half collapse. 

In the end, 23 points in a half won’t get it done in a hostile environment. 

As dreadful and surprising as this loss was for Duke, particularly the manner in which it happened, it should serve as a major learning tool for this young team. Only Moore, Baker and John really had experience in a road game on the collegiate level leading into this game. That could have been a factor as well. 

Now, the rest of the squad knows what it’s about and the level of focus that has to come along with it. 

This loss was disappointing for Duke, but there have been no signs of this type of play on offense becoming a trend.

CONSISTENCY FROM MARK WILLIAMS 

Expectations were extremely high for Mark Williams entering this season. Fair or not. They were high. And expectations should remain high for the 7-footer. 

He showed last week what he’s capable of doing against high level opponents. And even tonight he showed glimpses in the second half before foul trouble derailed his productivity. 

Williams played 11 minutes in each half, but after a disappearing act in the first half, he came out of the break aggressively with the intent of attacking Key or whoever else drew the short straw to defend him. 

The result was six points and six second half rebounds. Had fouls not gotten in the way for the big sophomore, those numbers might have been better. Although, Duke did get away from looking to feed him above the rim later in the half where he tends to do most of his damage. Again, there’s no reason to believe this will be a trend.

In the first half, he attempted just one shot. One shot. That’s not acceptable for a player with his level of talent on the offensive end of the court. 

As Williams develops and can consistently put together a full game of aggressive play, he has the ability to be a nightmare for opposing teams each and every night. Until he does that, though, we’ll continue to be talking about two very different halves or stretches of play for the big man. 

He has the tools, and he’ll eventually put it all together. 

Theo John fouled out in the second half against Ohio State (Photo: Duke Athletics).

YES THERE WERE QUESTIONABLE CALLS, BUT …

I have to address this — and not as an excuse. My stance has already been laid out. I, or anyone else would be a fool to think the foul trouble did not play a part in Duke’s second half struggles and ultimately the loss. 

No doubt it impacted a lot of things. It changed how aggressive Duke could be defensively. Offensively, they weren’t able to be as physical as they would like, as the referees were quick to blow the whistle on the offense as well. 

The fouls took John out of the game, which was a big loss as he had done an impressive job against Key. They also likely changed Williams’ mindset and impacted how others played. 

These are all true. What percentage that played in the loss, who knows? 

In total, Duke was called for 23 fouls and Ohio State was whistled for 14. Games will be lopsided when it comes to fouls. This is not breaking news. Duke has certainly been on the positive side of that stat plenty of times. It happens. 

Did it impact the game? Absolutely. 

But those whistles did not lead Duke to be loose with the basketball. They did not force the Blue Devils to rush on offense or forget the unselfish play that led to big wins over Kentucky and Gonzaga. That all came from the mental space. The Blue Devils simply could not get out of their own way Tuesday.