Sports Commentary: Streak ends, but Blue Devils clinch ACC title

Georgia Tech beat Duke Wednesday night, and it is as simple as that.

There was no individual play or matchup that decided this game. The Yellow Jackets came into Cameron a more focused, more determined and quicker team, and ended a home winning streak that lasted for almost three full seasons.

The Blue Devils started the game hungry and ready to play, but they lacked that indefinable intangible that separates the winners from the losers when two highly talented teams compete, that thing called edge.

"We couldn't match their level of intensity," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We just couldn't get to their level. It doesn't mean we weren't hungry, but there's an edge. You can be really ready to play, but then there's an edge that you need. That's why people win and lose. I give a lot of credit to them."

A large part of that edge came from Jarret Jack, who finished with a Georgia Tech-high 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists. His statistics do not tell the whole story of his influence, as the rapid speed in which he pushed the ball up the court and the ease with which he penetrated into the lane opened myriad opportunities for the Yellow Jackets to take advantage of the less driven Blue Devils.

Perhaps the most important part of Georgia Tech's victory was its resolve while winning. Duke made several runs at taking the lead on its vaunted home court, but the Blue Devils held the upper hand zero times after the 10:45 mark in the first half. The first significant surge began two minutes into the second half as J.J. Redick, who scored 20 second-half points, and Daniel Ewing each nailed a three-pointer and Shelden Williams muscled in a lay up to make the score 40-39. But the Yellow Jackets quickly responded with a 6-0 run, giving them another comfortable advantage. Duke had another surge later in the half, capped off by a Redick three-pointer with 7:06 remaining that tied the score at 56. But instead of succumbing to the will of the Duke team and its raucous fans, Schenscher scored six straight points.

"We tried to stay composed," Jack said. "We knew coming into today that they were going to make their runs. We just stayed together and we knew we'd be okay."

One thing that cannot be denied about Wednesday's game is that Krzyzewski did have the necessary edge. Frustrated with the officials, the West Point graduate barked at the referees with even more venom than usual, and he picked up his first technical foul of the season with 9:18 to go in the first half. Krzyzewski was so heated that he removed his jacket for the remainder of the first half, and coached the second half in a navy blue golf shirt and sportcoat. Coach K said he was not trying to motivate his team with the technical, but his players were never-the-less disappointed in themselves for not matching their coach's intensity.

"He was fighting more than any of us were," Shavlik Randolph said. "I think we should have responded better to his emotion. I think he was going to try to get us respond [to his passion]. We just never did that."

Though Duke clinched the ACC regular season championship Wednesday because of N.C. State's loss to Maryland last night, the players feel they did not put forth the effort Wednesday to be worthy of such an accomplishment. The Blue Devils look forward to regaining their lost edge Saturday against their archrivals.

"We have a big game coming up Saturday against Carolina, and we have to respond a lot better than that," Ewing said. "We need to bring our A-plus game on Saturday or else we might have another outcome like this."