With just a little more than six minutes left in the first half Tuesday against Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils inserted seldom-used freshman Antonio Vrankovic—who last saw game action Dec. 28—into the game, looking for any spark they could get to lift an undermanned team.
In a season that has featured its bumps and bruises, trying new things has become the norm for Duke.
The Blue Devils will look to build momentum following their three-game road swing Saturday when they return to Cameron Indoor Stadium to host N.C. State at 2 p.m. The matchup comes just two weeks after Duke broke a three-game losing streak with a 10-point victory against the Wolfpack in Raleigh Jan. 23.
“Before the game against Georgia Tech, we talked about three C’s," associate head coach Jeff Capel said on his radio show Wednesday. "We really needed to concentrate with everything that was going around us and being on the road. We needed to be composed. We needed to be really really confident, especially on the offensive end."
Although inserting Vrankovic did not pay dividends, a switch from zone to man-to-man defense to open the second half did as Duke (16-6, 5-4 in the ACC) emerged with a 80-71 road victory without the services of head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
"As a team, I think we really like to play man—that's kind of like the Duke defense," freshman guard Luke Kennard said. "The man-to-man changed it up, brought a little fire to our defense."
The five-time national champion Krzyzewski remained in Durham Tuesday after feeling under the weather following Monday’s team meal. He was released from Duke University Hospital Wednesday and is expected to be on the sidelines against N.C. State.
"When Coach is there, he makes you feel comfortable," Kennard said. "We were a little nervous that he wasn't coming, but we knew we had to get him a win [Tuesday]."
On the court, the Blue Devils have to be feeling better themselves, after a solid second-half on both ends of the floor lifted them past the Yellow Jackets. Duke’s 11 triples fueled the offense, while the defense clamped down on penetration by Georgia Tech’s guards in the final 20 minutes, holding the home team to just 31 percent shooting for the home team in the second-half.
But the Blue Devils’ newfound success going man-to-man will be tested by the Wolfpack (12-11, 2-8), who have one of the most talented scorers in the country in Anthony "Cat" Barber and numerous bigs capable of scoring in the post. Barber has topped 30 points in four of his past five games, but was limited to five second-half points against the Blue Devils the first time around after a collision with Marshall Plumlee left him hobbled.
A season that started with high expectations for N.C. State has been a disappointment as the team enters the game near the bottom of the conference standings. Although the Wolfpack's talent has shown through in periodic spurts—such as last weekend’s 16-point win against Miami—head coach Mark Gottfried's squad has had trouble developing consistency.
That issue was on full display in the teams' first meeting, as the Wolfpack were outscored 52-35 in the second-half after jumping out to a double-digit lead. Duke will look for a more complete performance come Saturday and one of the biggest keys will be clamping down on the perimeter. Both Barber and guard Maverick Rowan can light it up from deep and twin forwards Caleb Martin and Cody Martin showed an ability to hit from long-range as they combined for four triples in the first matchup.
The Blue Devils will counter with a host of 3-point shooters of their own, headlined by sophomore Grayson Allen and freshman Brandon Ingram who are shooting 42 and 41 percent from deep, respectively. The duo combined for 53 points in January’s win and gave N.C. State nightmares by setting up open jumpers off of drives to the hoop.
But Duke will need much more from its role-players going forward if it hopes to climb out of the middle of the pack in the ACC.
After his 30-point outburst against Notre Dame, Kennard has averaged just 7.3 points per game in his last four contests. Junior Matt Jones has scored in double-digits in just two of his last eight games and Plumlee has only averaged four field-goal attempts in his last three games.
The Blue Devils can take some solace in the recent play of freshman Derryck Thornton. The guard appeared to find himself towards the end of Tuesday’s win and finished with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting. A more aggressive Thornton—who earned his first start since a loss at Clemson Jan. 13 against the Yellow Jackets—will only help take pressure off Allen and Ingram, who will likely see multiple defenders thrown their way by the Wolfpack.
“He’s passing the ball well and looking for guys," Capel said. "He makes strong drives and finishes and he makes big shots for us. He had a confidence out there….I think he’s played well the last three games.”
Halfway through its conference schedule, Duke finds itself with four losses in the ACC, including two at home. With four consecutive games against ranked opponents on the docket following Saturday’s contest, the tilt with N.C. State has become a game the Blue Devils sorely need to win.
Despite having Krzyzewski back in the fold, Duke will have their hands full with a team that has grown accustomed to playing the role of spoiler in the ACC. Led by Plumlee, the Blue Devils outrebounded the Wolfpack 31-28, outhustling the physical duo of BeeJay Anya and Abdul-Malik Abu on the glass.
"A big part of their offense is the bigs that they have in," sophomore Grayson Allen said. "They're physical, they're big, they can rebound, they can carve out space. So when a shot goes up, it's about all five guys going after that rebound."
Hank Tucker contributed reporting.
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