Duke showed its capabilities in beating Georgia Tech. Now comes the tough job.
In a game tied late against Georgia Tech Tuesday night, Duke made play after play after play to post a 75-68 win.
Considering Duke hasn’t lost to the Yellow Jackets at home since 2004, what’s the news here?
Plenty.
This isn’t a Blue Devil team playing like all those teams over the last 17 years that have whipped Georgia Tech and plenty of other ACC teams.
Entering the game on a three-game losing streak with a break-even overall record in late January, Duke is a long way from earning consideration for the NCAA tournament.
Playing the way they did against Georgia Tech, particularly late, the Blue Devils took a big step toward showing the kind of team they could become.
“We’ve had a lot of tough games, a lot of games that we could’ve won that came down to the wire,” Duke senior guard Jordan Goldwire said. “For us to come out and beat a very good Georgia Tech team, an older team, just shows that we’re trying to keep improving every day.”
Duke (6-5, 4-3 ACC) played really well in multiple stretches Tuesday night. The Blue Devils had done the same in losses at Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Louisville leading into the game with Georgia Tech.
But in all three of those games, Duke faltered down the stretch and took losses.
How the second half played out
Georgia Tech pushed Duke hard. The Blue Devils led 33-25 at halftime and 45-34 with 15:41 to play.
Led by senior guard Jose Alvarado, the Yellow Jackets chipped away and chipped away and finally tied the game at 52 with 9:30 to play on Jordan Usher’s basket.
In the last four minutes, Alvarado gave Georgia Tech a pair of one-point leads on the way to his 26-point night. His 3-pointer with 3:21 to play left Duke down 64-63.
“They took the lead by one,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “and based on losing three in a row, a team can start thinking negative and our guys didn’t. I’m proud of our players.”
This time the Blue Devils didn’t look and play young at key times.
“You expend so much energy trying to stop them and you can let up a little and not be poised,” Krzyzewski said. “I thought we had good poise at the end. Not that we were rattled or anything at Louisville, but we worked better as a unit tonight. Again, it’s a young team. Hopefully, we can continue to do that.”
That is the next question Duke must answer. The Blue Devils have not turned in consistent performances this season, so all the good work on display Tuesday can be undone by a rough game on Saturday against Clemson.
Jalen Johnson’s mid-game turnaround
As it is, Duke showed it has the pieces needed to string together wins.
Freshman guard DJ Steward scored 19 points, continuing to show he can be a reliable scorer on the perimeter.
Sophomore Matthew Hurt, Duke’s leading scorer and one of the ACC’s top scorers with a 19.4 average, produced only four points in the first half. He finished with 17 points.
Freshman forward Jalen Johnson, after scoring only two points in the first half, finished with 18.
Johnson’s mid-game turn-around is notable because he’d been unable to overcome poor early stretches in games and produce this season. Even during Tuesday’s game, Johnson twice allowed Alvarado to knock the ball out of his hands for turnovers.
Yet Johnson scored seven points in the game’s final four minutes, including conventional three-point plays with a basket and free throw on consecutive possessions after Alvarado had given the Yellow Jackets those one-point leads.
“For him to be advancing like he is is really encouraging,” Krzyzewski said. “And to learn about the physicality of the game and to play through contact. He made those two plays in the last few minutes through contact and he made one of them after letting Alvarado take the ball from him. That’s a big sign. You can get down about that and not be strong in the next play, but he was.”
Then there’s Goldwire, who came off the bench to replace struggling freshman Jeremy Roach to produce 11 points, seven assists and two steals while committing just one turnover in 35 minutes.
The senior guard played well and gave Duke experienced leadership when it was needed. Now, he knows the team’s strong play needs to be replicated over and over again.
“We lost three tough games and we’ve just got to get back on the horse,” Goldwire said. “This win for us was huge, but we’re not satisfied – we’ve got to come back Saturday (against Clemson) ready to play.”
This story was originally published January 27, 2021 at 9:00 AM.