After having their winning streak snapped against Louisville, Duke will look to get back on track when they square off against Georgia Tech. Duke was able to beat Georgia Tech the first time these teams met this season, but much like Duke, Georgia Tech has improved as a team since this game. Duke is in desperate need of a win to keep their Tournament hopes alive.
As alluded to above, Georgia Tech has improved as a team this season. After starting the season 7-5 overall and 3-3 in ACC play, Georgia Tech has since gone 6-3. The Yellow Jackets are currently on a four game winning streak, and took down Virginia Tech at Virginia Tech during this impressive winning streak. Georgia Tech is certainly not lacking confidence going into this game. When asked about Duke, Georgia Tech’s Moses Wright stated: “I’m not gonna sugarcoat it. We know we’re better than Duke.”
What to watch for:
Jose Alvarado
The Senior guard is having an excellent season for the Yellow Jackets. Averaging 16 point and 4.2 assists per game, he is the engine of their offense. Alvarado had his way with Duke the first time these teams met, finishing with 26 points while shooting 67% from the field. Duke has to do a much better job of defending Alvarado in the rematch.
Moses Wright
Forward Moses Wright has been the other member of a somewhat dynamic duo for Georgia Tech this season. He is currently averaging 17.5 points per game and pulls down 8.0 rebounds per game as well. Duke did a great job defending Wright in the first game, holding him to 6-17 from the field. Containing Alvarado is priority #1, but Wright is another player that Duke must slow down.
How does Duke respond to adversity?
This will be the first game Duke plays following a loss in two and a half weeks. Duke has been rolling of late, but momentum has been snapped after the loss to Louisville. Will they let the loss negatively impact their play? Or will they use it as fuel and come out and play a good game?
Bulletin board material
Duke already has more than enough motivation to win this game considering their bubble status. Not that any extra motivation was needed, but perhaps the comments from Moses Wright mentioned at the beginning of this article will add a little fuel to the fire. It will be interesting to see if the comments from Wright fire up the Duke players at all.
Besides Matthew Hurt, who shows up for Duke?
Duke is coming off a game in which Matthew Hurt scored 37 of Duke’s 73 points. The supporting cast will need to be vastly improved as a whole to avoid another loss.