BLACKSBURG, Va.—With a little more than seven minutes left in the first half Saturday, graduate student Amile Jefferson found himself caught on the wing against Virginia Tech's Justin Bibbs.
As the 6-foot-9 forward tried to switch with senior Matt Jones, Hokie guard Justin Robinson dribbled to his left and found Bibbs wide open beyond the arc from the right wing. And the junior did not miss.
The sequence was part of an afternoon of defensive breakdowns for the No. 5 Blue Devils, who had no answer for Virginia Tech's ball movement and spacing in a 89-75 loss Saturday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum. Six Hokies scored in double figures led by junior Justin Bibbs' 18 points, and Virginia Tech never looked back after taking an 8-0 lead when Duke missed its first seven shots.
“We weren’t ready,” Jefferson said. “We have to be together. We have to be all in and we played a really good basketball team today…. It’s not going to get any easier.”
Despite entering the contest ranked 10th in adjusted defensive efficiency per basketball statistician Ken Pomeroy's metric, the Blue Devil defense repeatedly allowed easy layups to a fast-paced Hokie offense.
After Duke cut a 16-point halftime lead to 11, Bibbs ripped off seven straight points after the second-half under-16 media timeout and like his teammates had no problem getting to the lane throughout the afternoon.
“When you have the letters Duke across your chest, people are going to come after you and give you the best every game,” freshman Frank Jackson said. “Especially in an environment like this where it’s loud and everyone wants to see you lose, you’ve got to come together and step it up.”
Virginia Tech (12-1, 1-0 in the ACC) averaged 83.5 points per game through its first 12 games and controlled the pace of play against Duke, taking advantage of transition opportunities off defensive rebounds. The Hokies went 8-of-13 from 3-point range after driving the ball relentlessly inside as the Blue Devils surrendered a season-high 89 points.
Luke Kennard carried Duke (12-2, 0-1) offensively once again, notching 34 points and seven rebounds. Outside of the Franklin, Ohio, native, however, the Blue Devils struggled to find a rhythm from the floor.
Without second-leading scorer Grayson Allen—who was suspended indefinitely last week—Duke registered just eight assists to the home team's 18 and frequently resorted to isolation basketball.
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game that he did not want to talk about when Allen might return but noted that the junior is no longer a co-captain. He also mentioned that the Blue Devils’ “lack of continuity” has hurt them thus far.
Freshman Jayson Tatum managed just seven first-half points after shooting only 1-of-7 from the field, but turned it on in the second half. The St. Louis native finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, but the Blue Devils never got enough stops to cut the lead to single digits and make a real comeback.
In addition to being a step slow defensively, Duke found itself in foul trouble throughout the game. Jackson started for Allen but picked up three first-half fouls, and big men Amile Jefferson and Harry Giles collected their third fouls early in the second half.
In his third game of the year, Giles made his first two field goals of his career in the first half, but the top-ranked recruit looked lost on defense as Virginia Tech used the Blue Devils' aggressiveness against them.
“It’s a process for [Giles,]” Krzyzewski said. “He’s not in shape yet and because of the injury, he hasn’t done all the defensive drills where you’re fundamentally sound…. He’s learning in real-time.”
Following the loss, Duke will return to Durham host Georgia Tech Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Yellow Jackets pulled an upset of their own Saturday, taking down No. 9 North Carolina, 75-63.
For the Blue Devils to move back to .500 in conference play, they will need to make sure that Saturday’s mistakes do not rear their ugly heads again.
“Hopefully, [losing] is a reality check for us and it’s something we hate,” Jefferson said. “It’s a horrible feeling…. We missed our heart. We missed a lot of things tonight. We missed Duke.”
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Twitter: @mpgladstone13
A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak."