CORAL GABLES, Fla.—New York Yankees star Alex Rodriguez was seated courtside Monday night, but the Blue Devils had their hands full dealing with a different A-Rod.
Led by the veteran leadership of guards Angel Rodriguez and Sheldon McClellan, No. 15 Miami scored at will down the stretch to deal No. 24 Duke an 80-69 loss Monday at the BankUnited Center. The Hurricanes made their last eight shots from the field, stymying the Blue Devils' bid for a late comeback and all but ensuring that Duke will fall out of the top 25 when the next poll is released next week.
Playing their second game in three days, the Blue Devils played zone for the vast majority of the night, trying to conserve energy and stay out of foul trouble. But the Hurricanes—who victimized Duke's man-to-man defense in a 90-74 win in Durham last year—were able to find the soft spots in the zone, scoring 42 points in the paint, many of them on dunks.
“We've got to get healthy, get fresh again and keep figuring out how we might win,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “The league is so difficult and we’re limited. I’m glad that the students were yelling ‘overrated.’ Man, I didn’t know we were rated.”
Brandon Ingram and Grayson Allen combined for 36 points for the Blue Devils (15-6, 4-4 in the ACC), but McClellan poured in a game-high 21 and Rodriguez chipped in 13 points to go with 11 assists, lobbing several passes over the top of the Blue Devil zone for alley-oops.
On the other end of the floor, the Hurricanes' length and aggression forced Duke into one of its poorest shooting performances of the season. The Blue Devils shot 42 percent from the floor and finished 6-of-20 from beyond the arc, compared to their season average of 8.5 per game. Along with the stout defense of McClellan on the perimeter, center Tonye Jekiri was a menace inside and altered numerous Duke drives to the basket. The Hurricanes (16-3, 5-2) swatted seven shots Monday—Duke did not record a block.
“[Jekiri]’s such a great rim-protector," said Krzyzewski, who called Monday's game the most physical of the season for the Blue Devils. “That allows their perimeter to be even more aggressive because he can erase mistakes.”
Miami jumped out to a 7-2 lead, and though Duke responded with 10 straight points, the Hurricanes regained control as Duke struggled through a 1-of-10 stretch from the floor.
Looking to spark the offense, Krzyzewski reinserted Ingram back into the game and got immediate results. The swingman scored six of the team’s next eight points and helped energize the stagnant unit by breaking down a stout Hurricane defense that ranked third in the conference in field goal percentage heading into the game.
But despite the freshman’s strong play, McClellan and Rodriguez proved to be too much for Duke to handle. After torching the Blue Devils for 24 points a year ago, Rodriguez was hot again early Monday, hitting three first-half 3-pointers to lead the way for Miami. McClellan made his presence felt by playing solid defense on Allen all evening and finding his way to the basket by slipping behind the Blue Devils for high-percentage looks at and above the rim.
Even with Rodriguez playing some of his best basketball of the year, Duke stayed close as Matt Jones rediscovered his 3-point stroke and scored a team-high 10 first-half points. As a result, the Blue Devils trailed by just four at the half despite assisting on only three of their 12 made baskets and committing seven turnovers.
Duke started slow coming out of halftime, unable to score against Miami’s size in the paint. The Blue Devils hit just four of their first 16 shots in the half and went scoreless for 4:28 as the Hurricanes stretched the lead to 10 behind four early offensive rebounds by Jekiri.
“They really fought on the defensive end, really clogged the paint and tried to make it hard for the guards to penetrate," freshman Luke Kennard said. “They tried to dig at the ball and cause little turnovers.”
Although the Blue Devils looked to stay close by attacking the basket, the team’s inability to connect from downtown hurt. With Duke struggling through another drought from the floor, the Hurricanes rattled off seven straight points to ignite the sell-out crowd and push the lead to 14.
The Blue Devils responded with a quick 7-0 run of their own to get back into striking distance and trailed 55-48 with 7:27 remaining in the game. After a few minutes of back-and-forth action, five straight points by freshman Derryck Thornton and a finish by Marshall Plumlee had Duke within five. But a McClellan backdoor slam once again sent the crowd into a frenzy and left Duke hanging by a thread.
The Texas transfer continued to torch Duke with an array of cuts to the basket and finishes at the hoop, scoring seven of the last 12 points for the Hurricanes.
“They played like a talented, mature team tonight and they did enough to come away with the win and we have to give them credit where credit is due,” Plumlee said. “When you show up and have games with good attitude and fight, you can take a lot of lessons away from those and that’s what we’re going to do.”
The Blue Devils will have an eight-day break before taking the floor Feb. 2 at Georgia Tech.
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