No. 10 Duke uses small lineup to rally past Virginia Tech
No. 10 Duke opted for small ball in the second half to find a way to win at Virginia Tech’s Cassell Coliseum.
After Virginia Tech opened a seven-point lead just after halftime, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski used all guards for most of the second half and the Blue Devils turned things around to beat the Hokies 77-63 on Friday night.
With Virginia Tech racking up points inside, Krzyzewski removed 6-10 center Vernon Carey and kept 6-9 fresheman forward Matthew Hurt and 6-10 senior forward Javin DeLaurier on the bench.
Point guard Tre Jones found himself on the court with junior guard Jordan Goldwire, sophomore small forward Joey Baker, freshman guard Wendell Moore and senior small forward Jack White. Junior guard Alex O’Connell saw spot duty as well.
That group held Virginia Tech (6-3, 1-1 ACC) to just one basket during a nine-possession stretch. That allowed Duke (9-1, 1-0 ACC), which had trailed 45-38, to move ahead 50-47 on two Jones free throws with 12:37 left.
The Hokies took their final lead with 11:11 to play when P.J. Horne hit a 3-pointer to put Virginia Tech up 52-50. But Carey returned to hit two free throws and Jones’ jumper with 10:13 to play gave Duke the lead for good at 54-52.
A 17-5 Blue Devils run from there allowed them to open up a 71-57 lead on an O’Connell 3-pointer.
Virginia Tech led by as many as 12 points in the first half before taking a 41-38 lead at halftime.
Jones led Duke with 15 points while Carey and Moore had 12 points each. Goldwire scored 10.
And-1
Just as happened in Duke’s stunning 85-83 overtime loss to Stephen F. Austin, the Blue Devils struggled to keep Virginia Tech from scoring inside. SFA had 64 points in the paint against Duke. Virginia Tech scored 26 points in the paint in the first half but finished with only 40 as Duke adjusted its defense in the second half with the smaller lineup.
Lane violation
With 4:23 to play, frustration set in for Virginia Tech’s Landers Nolley. As the Hokies were setting up their half-court offense, Nolley shoved Duke’s Wendell Moore in the chest away from the ball. The officials saw it and whistled a foul. After a replay review, they changed it to a flagrant-1 foul, giving Moore two free throws. He hit them both giving Duke a 68-57 lead.
ICYMI
Just one week after he was helped to the court during game while unable to bear weight on his left leg, Duke freshman guard Cassius Stanley returned to the starting lineup against Virginia Tech. The 6-6 Stanley injured his left hamstring in an 83-70 win over Winthrop on Nov. 29 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. He was not in uniform for Duke’s 87-75 win at Michigan State on Tuesday night. That’s the only game he’s missed this season and the only game he hasn’t started.
Making sense of the numbers
3: Consecutive Duke losses at Virginia Tech over the previous three seasons. Duke hadn’t won at Cassell Coliseum since Feb. 25, 2015.
12: Virginia Tech’s largest lead of the first half. The Hokies hit 9 of their first 12 shots, including two 3-pointers.
This story was originally published December 6, 2019 at 8:50 PM.