Coach K calls his Duke basketball team ‘soft’ in Blue Devils’ loss at Miami
Any progress Duke made toward settling its season over the last week fell apart Monday night.
Miami, at the bottom of the ACC standings and among the nation’s poorest 3-point shooting teams, rallied from a 6-point, second-half deficit to beat the Blue Devils 77-75 at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Florida.
It was a stunning loss for Duke (7-6, 5-4 ACC), which had pounded Clemson 79-53 at home Saturday.
“I didn’t think we competed,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I thought we were soft. I saw it in practice yesterday and tried to take steps to change that. We were not able to change it. I’m really disappointed in our team. They did not play like a Duke basketball team tonight.”
Miami (7-10, 3-9 ACC) shot 52.5%, including 7 of 13 (53.8%) on 3-pointers. The Hurricanes had hit only 28.4 percent of their 3-pointers entering the game. Duke tried zone and man-to-man defensive sets but struggled in both.
“It didn’t matter what we played,” Krzyzewski said, “we didn’t play it well.”
Elijah Olaniyi led the Hurricanes with 21 points while Anthony Walker and Isaiah Wong scored 16 points each.
Duke shot 46% overall and made just 5 of 13 (27.8%) of its 3-pointers. The Blue Devils turned the ball over 13 times.
“Coach was really on us from the jump about how important this game was to our team and how important it was to our program,” Duke sophomore Wendell Moore said. “We didn’t approach it like we should. As a team, if you don’t approach it like that outcomes like this happen.”
Matthew Hurt scored 21 points for Duke while Moore had 18. DJ Steward scored 14 points and Jalen Johnson 13 for the Blue Devils, who saw their two-game winning streak end.
Despite its struggles taking care of the ball, Duke led 51-49 when Johnson hit a basket and a free throw with 10:25 to play.
But Miami scored the game’s next 8 points, with Deng Gak scoring three baskets in the lane, to take a 57-51 lead.
Though Hurt and Moore each hit 3-pointers to pull the Blue Devils within 1 point, Wong and Olaniyi answered each with 3-pointers of their own.
Another Olaniyi 3-pointer with 3:54 left put the Hurricanes up 69-63.
Duke cut the deficit to 3 points on a Johnson basket with 2:01 to play. After Olaniyi hit one of two free throws, Johnson’s basket with 1:09 left cut the Hurricanes lead to 72-70.
Walker’s jumper with 53 seconds left gave Miami a 74-70 lead.
With Miami up 75-70, Hurt was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left. His three free throws cut the Miami lead to 75-73.
Walker’s two free throws with 12 seconds left gave Miami a 77-73 lead. Moore scored for Duke with 0:04 left and, after Wong missed a free throw, Duke had a chance to tie or win the game. But, rather than shooting, Johnson passed to Hurt, who shot the ball after time expired.
Here are the earlier updates from the game:
Second-half update: Miami leads 57-53
Duke’s inability to take care of the ball on offense and secure rebounds on the defensive end have allowed Miami to pull back in front.
After Duke led 35-31 at halftime, the Hurricanes now lead 57-53 with 7:26 to play.
The Blue Devils have 13 turnovers and have only assisted on six of their 20 made field goals. Duke still led 46-44 but the Hurricanes hit six consecutive shots, scoring eight points in a row at one point, to move ahead 57-51.
Halftime: Blue Devils up by two points
After Miami took advantage of Duke’s poor play on both ends of the court to open a six-point lead, the Blue Devils employed a zone defense late in the half to surge to a 35-33 lead at intermission.
While Duke turned the ball over eight times in the first half, Miami found plenty of driving lanes to the basket, as well as offensive rebounds, to take four different six-point leads, including 29-23 with 6:33 to play in the half.
But Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski had his team switch from man-to-man to the 3-2 zone defense they installed two weeks ago and have used intermittently ever since. The adjustment paid off.
After Miami led 31-25, the Blue Devils rattled off 10 points in a row to move in front.
Sophomore Wendell Moore helped the run on both ends. His basket and free throw with 3:50 left in the half cut Miami’s lead in half at 31-28.
With Miami up 31-29, Moore’s steal and layup tied the game for the first time since the opening tip. Moore’s pass to Hurt resulted in a bank shot falling at 2:27 giving Duke a 33-31 lead.
Duke shot 48.3% (12 of 29) in the first half while Miami hit 45.2% (14 of 31).
Hurt’s 11 points led Duke while Moore and DJ Steward each scored nine points.
First half update: Sluggish early play slows Duke
Duke turned the ball over six times in the game’s first 12 minutes, allowing Miami to take a 25-21 lead with 7:42 to play until halftime.
The Blue Devils made 9 of 18 shots (50%), but have allowed Miami to also shoot 50% (11 of 12). The Hurricanes have also secured four offensive rebounds already against the flat-footed Blue Devils.
DJ Steward scored seven early points to lead Duke.
Pregame: Blue Devils repeat starting lineup
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski used his eighth starting lineup of the season when the Blue Devils blasted Clemson 79-53 on Saturday. He’ll use the same group against Miami.
The Blue Devils, looking for their third consecutive win, will start senior guard Jordan Goldwire, sophomore forwards Wendell Moore and Matthew Hurt and freshman forward Jalen Johnson with freshman guard DJ Steward.
This is the fourth consecutive game Hurt, Moore, Johnson and Steward have been in the starting lineup.
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 6:48 PM.