After a rough week on the road which saw the men's basketball team lose two ACC conference games for the first time in six years, the No. 3 Blue Devils (13-2, 4-2 in the ACC) returned to the friendly confines of Cameron Indoor Stadium and defeated the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (9-7, 2-3), 91-71.
"We played really hard, and at times extremely well," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I'm proud of our guys because this is a huge win for us."
After a back-and-forth seventeen minutes of action in which neither team could maintain any momentum, the turning point of the game occurred in the final 2:34 of the first half. Down by one point, Duke went on a 6-0 run to enter the locker room at halftime up 42-37. Sparked by two of Casey Sanders' four blocks, and a thundering dunk by Shelden Williams that brought the Cameron Crazies to their feet, the Blue Devils established a lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
Contrary to the previous two games in which Duke lost halftime leads early in the second, the Blue Devils came out with a greater intensity than the Yellow Jackets. Ignited by Dahntay Jones, Duke went on a 14-6 run in the first five minutes of the half to open a 56-43 lead.
"We made a conscious effort just to stay energetic and aggressive to make sure we approached the second half in the right manner," Jones said. "Those first four minutes were key for us;
Jones, a senior, had a team-high 21 points while going 9-for-13 from the field, including 3-for-3 from the three-point line. During a pivotal stretch a few minutes into the second half, Jones nailed a three-pointer from deep in the corner off of a pass from a slashing Chris Duhon, who had more assists--nine--than all the Yellow Jackets combined.
Thirty seconds later, Jones beat his man off the dribble on the right side of the key and then charged down the baseline towards the basket for a jam.
One key to the victory was the Blue Devils' much maligned inside game. Labeled all season long as a perimeter team, Duke continually looked towards its big men for offense, and they responded with their best games of the year. Nick Horvath, Shavlik Randolph, Sanders and Williams scored a combined 37 points, including a career high eighteen from Williams off the bench.
"Everyone's had good games individually, but not all of us as a unit have had a good game at the same time, and that's really what we need to win," Horvath said.
Not only did the Blue Devils outscore the Yellow Jackets 44-30 in the paint, but they also outrebounded them 41-29. Williams also had a career high in rebounds, grabbing 13.
Duke's inside defense also played well, limiting Georgia Tech's frontcourt to only five field goals. The
Throughout the game Duke rotated its big men and used other defensive help to contain Bosh, who was also hampered by foul trouble. The Yellow Jacket scored all five of his points at the free-throw line and picked up only four rebounds in just 21 minutes on the floor. He had been averaging 9.9 boards per game.
"We just wanted to go out their and play good defense and rebound the ball, and that was the main focus for the big guys," Williams said. "Once we did that, we knew that the game would be in our hands."
Another part to the Blue Devils' win was the play of sophomore guard Daniel Ewing. Coming off the bench, Ewing scored 10 points and dished out three assists. His play helped ease the load off freshman J.J. Redick who, while nursing a right foot injury suffered during the N.C. State game, went 2-for-10 from the field. Nevertheless, Redick was still able to contribute 11 points and to break the school record of 35 consecutive free throws, held by Christian Laettner.
Overall, Krzyzewski was very pleased with the play of his young team.
"This has been a long week, a tough week," he said. "[Our team is] still trying to find out who the heck they are in a lot of cases. But today they found out that they could handle that type of adversity and play well."
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