Edging back toward the NCAA tournament bubble, Duke still needs a win over Florida State
At the point of their season where they have to try anything to keep winning and playing, the Duke Blue Devils took a chance on an unconventional defense Wednesday night.
If it didn’t work, the Blue Devils would lose to Louisville for the third time this season and find themselves with a .500 record.
But, despite being a team that starts three freshmen and two sophomores and one that’s not been a sturdy defensive team this season, the Blue Devils absorbed the game plan in an hour and executed it well.
Thanks to coach Mike Krzyzewski’s gambit, Duke’s chances to make the NCAA tournament aren’t dead just yet.
Duke shut down Louisville’s offense, stifling all-ACC guard Carlik Jones enough to beat the Cardinals 70-56 in an ACC tournament second-round game at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Now 13-11 and having added a third Quadrant 1 win to their record, the Blue Devils advance to play No. 2 seed Florida State in Thursday night’s quarterfinals.
After looking like a team ready to pack it in for the season while losing 91-73 at North Carolina last Saturday to enter the postseason on a three-game losing streak, Duke is in position to make the NCAA selection committee keep them in mind for an at-large bid.
It likely takes a win over the Seminoles (15-5) to do it, but the Blue Devils are at least still in the game.
That’s only true because they turned in as strong a defensive performance as they have all season, holding Louisville to .88 points per possession, according to KenPom.com advanced statistics.
Coach K changes up the defense
In Duke’s regular-season losses to the Cardinals, by scores of 70-65 on Jan. 23 and 80-73 in overtime on Feb. 27, Louisville scored 1.08 and 1.06 points per possession.
Aiming to slow down Jones and his backcourt mate, David Johnson, Krzyzewski dialed up a man-to-man defense that contains zone defense tendencies. Rather than each man being responsible for just one opposing player, the Blue Devils switched players as they roamed around the court.
It’s not new for the Blue Devils under Krzyzewski. But it’s new for this Duke team.
“In the past we, not this year, but some of our teams in the past we did that,” Krzyzewski said. “And we decided the best way to try to keep those two guards out of the lane was to do that.
Our guys were able to pick this up, they got our game plan in an hour, and they were able to execute it.”
Installing that defense on the fly after Duke blasted Boston College, 86-51, Tuesday night showed these Blue Devils still had some improvement to show.
It’s happening with the team up against it, trying to ensure they don’t miss their first NCAA tournament since 1995.
Blue Devils in the NET
Duke started Wednesday at No. 51 in the NET, considered beyond the popular ‘first four out’ grouping the bracket projectors use. Since Louisville was one place behind Duke heading into the game, the Blue Devils stayed the same at No. 51 when the NET was updated Thursday morning.
Florida State is at No. 22 in the NET, so the Blue Devils can really boost their tournament hopes by beating the Seminoles.
The way things stand, Duke probably has to beat Florida State or they aren’t going to get in the field.
But, after walking off the Smith Center court last Saturday night having been humbled in a lopsided loss to the rival Tar Heels, just getting to this point is an accomplishment.
It took Krzyzewski gambling with a defense he knows how to coach but his players had yet to use this season to get Duke from Wednesday to Thursday.
Getting from Thursday to Friday could take something equally as impressive.
Duke vs. Florida State
What: ACC tournament quarterfinals
When: 6:30 p.m., Thursday
Watch: ESPN or ESPN2
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 10:51 PM.