BLACKSBURG, Va.— Down eight with 15:14 to go and with everything seemingly going the opponent’s way, most young squads would fold under pressure in front of a hostile road crowd hungry for an upset.
But these Blue Devils are not most young teams.
Once again Wednesday night, Duke's freshmen were at their best when it mattered most, leading the Blue Devils to yet another come-from-behind win after forcing overtime. Center Jahlil Okafor scored 30 points and classmates Justise Winslow and Tyus Jones made their opportunities late count to once again silence a home crowd and demonstrate the maturity that has sparked Duke's eight-game winning streak.
“They’re young and they’ve gotten older,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They’ve played 28 games now and they really want to win. For them to turn that game around in the second half was terrific.”
The Blue Devils entered the contest not knowing what to expect from Okafor—who played for the first time since suffering an ankle injury against North Carolina a week ago. Yet, with very little practice time leading up to the matchup with the Hokies, the 6-foot-11 center delivered one of his finest offensive performances, using his footwork and an array of low-post moves to bully Virginia Tech defenders all game long.
Duke went to the freshman early and often to take a quick 17-6 lead that had the Blue Devils poised to put Virginia Tech away in the opening minutes. But despite Okafor’s dominance down low, the Hokies shot their way back into the game by capitalizing on Duke’s frequent lapses at the defensive end. Virginia Tech’s blistering 69.6-percent shooting from the floor allowed them to take a 39-37 lead into halftime and a quick 5-0 burst to start the second half had the sellout crowd sensing a monumental upset.
That is when the heralded Blue Devil freshmen showed their growth.
Sensing his team getting stagnant on the offense, Winslow took matters into his own hands with a pair of bullying drives to the basket.
The swingman capped off his second drive to the basket with an emphatic two-handed slam that revitalized the Blue Devils and cut the Hokie lead to 55-51.
“It got us going a little bit,” Winslow said. “We have to find a way to start the game with that same energy. “
With Jones orchestrating the offense, Duke was able to find the right shot whenever it needed it, whether it was an open Quinn Cook 3-pointer or a post-up for Okafor down low. Although he was held scoreless throughout the second-half and overtime, Jones’ nine assists loomed large in the Blue Devils' efforts to keep up with Virginia Tech’s torrid shooting beyond the arc. The Apple Valley, Minn., native was able to dictate tempo more and more as the game wore on with Cook, Winslow and Okafor all in attack mode to shrink the deficit.
But despite making plays to give itself a chance late, the game would come down to two of Duke’s biggest weaknesses—defense and free-throw shooting.
Okafor found the ball in his hands with the game tied at 77 and less than a minute to go in regulation. The freshman was able to draw contact on his drive to the basket and headed to the charity-stripe for two free throws with 21 seconds remaining. But, the line would once again prove to be Okafor’s kryptonite, as consecutive misses gave the Hokies a chance to steal the game.
“It sucked for me to miss those two free-throws, but I stuck with it and my teammates were giving me confidence,” Okafor said. “Sometimes I get kind of frustrated that I miss the one previously and that kind of affects my next one.”
The Blue Devils were bailed out on the other end by a tremendous defensive stand by Winslow. With Virginia Tech’s Jalen Hudson heading to the basket for a potential game-winning layup, the freshman was able to force a miss with a last-second contest without fouling. Duke would then respond to the added confidence of having survived regulation by starting strong in overtime and eventually overpowering the Hokies.
“This has been our second game when they had the ball at the end of regulation with no shot clock and we just had to get a stop to send it to overtime,” Jones said. “Our guys did a good job of just staying down and making sure we get stops on the defensive end.”
The Blue Devils have undoubtedly been pushed to the brink during their recent winning streak. Games against Virginia and North Carolina came down to the wire and victories against Florida State and Virginia Tech proved to require more effort than expected. Yet even when all has looked bleak for Duke, its young core has displayed the confidence it has been building each time it takes the floor.
“You learn a lot from winning like the Carolina game where you’re behind and you get the stop and win the overtime,” Krzyzewski said. “You can’t practice those things and it’s incredible experience for our guys.”
With big-time games in the ACC tournament and March Madness rapidly approaching, a squad starting three freshmen will always be vulnerable to the immense pressure of such contests. But as the Blue Devils have shown time and time again this season, they don’t shy away from the big moment—they embrace it.
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