Duke's tailspin continued with a 78-69 loss at Louisville Saturday to fall to 2-3 in ACC play. The Blue Devils failed to handle the Cardinals' pressure defense and struggled to defend without fouling all afternoon in the loss.
Revisiting the three keys to the game:
- Force the Cardinals to shoot from the perimeter: Duke jumped out to an early 19-12 lead as Louisville missed its first six 3-pointers, but the Cardinals knocked down three triples in the middle of a 20-5 run to make the Blue Devils pay for using a zone and create openings later on in the paint. Duke not the same team without Amile Jefferson, who missed his second straight game with a right-foot bone bruise, and it showed. Louisville had 36 points in the paint and still hit two more triples than the Blue Devils to extend Duke's defense, with Quentin Snider and Donovan Mitchell each knocking down three 3-pointers.
- Rebound: To the surprise of many, the Blue Devils held their own on the boards the whole game, with each team grabbing 32 rebounds. That stat doesn’t tell the whole story, though, since the Cardinals still turned an 11-7 advantage on the offensive glass into 13 second-chance points.
- Go up strong inside: Duke limited Louisville to just two blocks, much lower than its season average, but still scored just 26 points in the paint—10 fewer than the Cardinals. The Blue Devils shot the ball well from the field at 46.8 percent, but just didn’t attack the basket enough without Jefferson's presence in the post, often settling for low-percentage midrange jumpers instead.
Three key stats:
- Duke misses five of seven late free throws: With the Blue Devils trying to mount a comeback, Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum and Grayson Allen combined to miss five free throws that could have made it a one-possession game. Louisville was making every effort to keep Duke in the game with sloppy fouls, but the Blue Devils could not capitalize.
- Anas Mahmoud leads Louisville with 17 points: The seven-foot center had a career high in points against Duke’s shorthanded frontcourt. The Blue Devils had no replacement for Jefferson’s missing production and rim protection, as Mahmoud had a stellar game. Every shot he made was either a dunk or a layup, and he did an excellent job on defense of denying entry passes to Giles, Chase Jeter and Marques Bolden.
- Duke commits 18 turnovers: The Blue Devils turned the ball over 18 times Saturday—a new season high. Louisville’s staunch defense wore down Duke’s short rotation, which led to mental errors and sloppy play as the game wore on. The Cardinals' opportunistic defense turned the Blue Devils' errors into 13 points off turnovers.
Three key plays:
- 12:17 remaining, second half: Tatum was whistled for an offensive foul for his fourth foul of the game and was forced to sit, capping a six-minute stretch in which he picked up three quick fouls. The freshman forward had a tough game, scoring just 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting from the field.
- 16:06 remaining, second half: Grayson Allen turned the ball over and got tangled up with Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell, pulling him to the ground. While getting back up, Mitchell seemed to smack Allen in the face before heading down the court, where Louisville scored, stole the inbounds pass and scored again to take a 43-37 lead. This sequence seemed to suck the life out of the Blue Devils. Rather than potentially taking the lead, Duke came away down six points with its star guard rattled.
- 4:03 remaining, second half: Donovan Mitchell pulled up from deep and hit an NBA-range 3-pointer to put the Cardinals up by nine, and they never looked back. After going down earlier in the half with an ankle injury and needing help getting off the court, Mitchell returned to help seal his team’s victory.
And the Duke game ball goes to.... Grayson Allen
Against one of the ACC’s top defenses, Allen put up 23 points without much help on the offensive end from his teammates. He hit two of his three shots from beyond the arc and even grabbed a team-high nine boards to chip in against a tall Louisville team that rebounds well.
And the Louisville game ball goes to.... Anas Mahmoud
Mahmoud gave the Blue Devils fits on both ends of the court. The junior forward parked himself in the paint and got whatever he wanted, posting his first career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. He even made 5-of-7 free throws despite only shooting 50 percent from the line entering the game.
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