Duke heads to Pittsburgh with a healthy Jalen Johnson. Blue Devils have missed him.
Unranked for the first time in nearly five years, Duke will at least take the court Tuesday night healthier than it has been since the middle of last month.
Preseason All-ACC pick Jalen Johnson is back practicing regularly after missing all of three games and most of another with a foot injury.
Reserve center Patrick Tapé, slowed by a back injury that kept him out of Duke’s last three games, returned to practice and has a chance to be available when the Blue Devils play at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night (9 p.m., ESPN).
“It’s been a little while,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday. “These are things that happen, along with all the stuff this year. It’s good to finally get to a spot where we have everybody.”
Duke (5-3, 3-1 ACC) played without Tapé completely and with Johnson playing only four minutes while losing 74-67 at Virginia Tech last Tuesday night.
Entering that game, the 6-foot-9 Johnson had only been through one full practice and part of another. That left him not conditioned for a full game.
But Krzyzewski said the freshman forward is now better able to handle more playing time.
“He’s practiced every day,” Krzyzewski said. “Jalen’s had good practices. He’s got to get that court experience.”
The Blue Devils, ranked No. 19 when they lost at Virginia Tech, dropped out of Monday’s Associated Press Top 25 poll. It’s the first poll Duke’s missed since Feb. 8, 2016.
Projected as a first-round pick should he enter this year’s NBA Draft, Johnson played in Duke’s first four games, averaging 11.5 points per game, before being sidelined on Dec. 15 with a foot injury.
With him out, Duke posted wins over Notre Dame, Boston College and Wake Forest, while two other scheduled ACC games, against Pittsburgh and Florida State, were postponed due to COVID-19 concerns in those programs.
Now the task is to work Johnson back into the game plans while maintaining any growth the rest of the players made in his absence.
“We’re trying to develop a team,” Krzyzewski said. “So when you have somebody out like that, then he’s not part of the team — the playing team. He’s always be a part of the team, don’t get me wrong about that. But now that he’s there it gives us an opportunity to move forward and try to get to a better place with our entire unit.”
Duke remains a team looking for consistency at both ends of the floor. Because of injuries and uneven play from its players, the Blue Devils have used seven different starting lineups in their eight games.
Last month, Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel prepared his team to play Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 29. The Panthers even loaded the bus to head to the airport for their flight when word came they had to return because their traveling party had been exposed to a COVID-19 positive person.
Preparing to face the Blue Devils this week, Capel sees good development from Duke freshmen guards DJ Steward and Jeremy Roach, along with superior play from the Blue Devils’ leading scorer, Matthew Hurt.
“I think they’ve gotten better,” said Capel, the former Duke player and assistant coach. “They are such a young group. Those guys have gotten better. Steward has gotten better. Roach has gotten better. Hurt is as good as anyone in our league, playing a very, very high level. They can put up points and put up points in a hurry.”
Steward and Roach are becoming more reliable scorers as their first seasons progress. Steward has scored in double figures in Duke’s last five games, increasing his average to 14 points per game. Roach has also scored in double figures in five consecutive games, including a season-best 22 points against Virginia Tech last Tuesday. He’s now averaging 11.1 points per game.
Hurt, a 6-9 sophomore forward, leads the ACC in scoring at 19.6 points per game. Pittsburgh’s Justin Champagnie is just behind him at 18.7 points per game. The 6-6 sophomore had missed Pitt’s last two games before scoring 24 points against Syracuse on Saturday. Pittsburgh (7-2, 3-1) has played only two games this month, beating Syracuse twice. The Panthers won, 63-60, on Jan. 6 at the Carrier Dome before topping the Orange, 96-76, at home on Saturday.