The start of this one was ugly for Duke. Virginia Tech jumped out to an early 11-2 lead. Hoping for a spark, Coach K inserted Jalen Johnson into the lineup at the 16:23 mark of the first half with Duke already trailing by seven. A Jaemyn Brakefield layup at the 13:31 mark cut Virginia Tech’s lead to five, but that was the closest Duke would get in the first half.
The defense in the first half was porous. Virginia Tech was getting open look after open look, and getting to the rim with zero reluctance. Offensively, Duke was plagued by turnovers and an inability to generate open looks. This combination resulted in Duke trailing by as many as 17 points in the half, before heading to the break trailing by 12.
Duke quickly cut into the deficit to begin the second half. A driving layup from Jeremy Roach cut Virginia Tech’s lead to four with 15:17 left to play in the game. After exchanging baskets for a a few possessions, Matthew Hurt hit a three with 13:11 remaining and Duke trailed by just one.
Virginia Tech would answer the run and extended the lead to seven at the 8:37 mark of the first half. Virginia Tech’s offense really stalled in the final eight minutes. Despite many empty possessions for the Hokies, Duke was not able to take advantage.
Duke settled for too many jumpers down the stretch which ultimately doomed their chances at completing the comeback. Duke again cut the lead to four with 2:36 left, but proceeded to foul on the following possession leading to free throws for Virginia Tech. Duke would not get within six points of Virginia Tech in the final two minutes.
Five Observations:
Defensive inconsistency
Duke gave up 39 points in the first 25 minutes, compared to just 35 points given up in the final 15 minutes. The latter is impressive. Duke lacked defensive intensity in a severe way to start this game. They made a number of questionable rotations and simply lost track of the offense on several occasions. Towards the end of the first half and through the second half, Duke was far more locked in on the defensive end of the floor. Duke will need to learn how to put together a complete game defensively.
Questionable shot selection during comeback attempt
Duke looked like a team that had no real plan offensively as they attempted to comeback from the whole they dug themselves in the first half. Over the last 12 minutes of the game, Duke shot 1/11 from three, and the one make was a meaningless buzzer beater as time expired. They missed a handful of two joint jump shots as well. Rather than making an effort to get to the rim and draw fouls, they continued to settle. Had Duke been more aggressive and also made sure to get Hurt and Roach touches, the final minutes of that game could have looked much different.
Joey Baker
Joey Baker was all over the place defensively. Despite not scoring, he made a big impact on this game. In 13 minutes of play, Baker blocked three shots and grabbed two rebounds while playing very good defense. He played with a great effort and intensity. He needs to be better offensively, but his play was refreshing on a night when Duke lacked energy at times.
Lack of production outside of Hurt, Roach, and Steward
Matthew Hurt, Jeremy Roach, and DJ Steward scored 56 of Duke’s 67 points. Jordan Goldwire really struggled in this one, going 0/5 from the field. Duke was in desperate need of someone else stepping up but it never materialized.
Duke continues to struggle against ranked teams
This was the third time this season Duke struggled significantly when facing a ranked team, a sign that this team still has a long way to go. A positive sign is that Duke kept fighting and battled back in the second half. The team looked better in the second half, but cannot afford to continue to play so poorly in the first half, especially against quality teams.
Player of the game: Jeremy Roach
Jeremy Roach was in control throughout in this game. He finished with 22 points, including 8/8 from the free throw line. Roach managed to keep Duke within striking distance in the first half and continued his solid play in the second half. Roach’s play is a reason for optimism moving forward after an otherwise disappointing performance from Duke. Duke is in good hands at the point guard position.