It took a trip to China. It took 23 games, 920 minutes of regulation and five more of overtime. It took the Blue Devils losing two of the last three games at Cameron Indoor Stadium, after they had won 45 consecutive there since 2009. And it took Duke’s 78-74 loss to Miami, their first home overtime game since edging out the Hurricanes in extra time in 2009.
But head coach Mike Krzyzewski may have finally found his backcourt.
After a lackluster first-half performance sent the Blue Devils into the locker room down 42-28, it was clear something had to change in the second period for Duke to reverse its fortune. At the 17:39 mark in the second half, Seth Curry and Quinn Cook replaced Tyler Thornton and Andre Dawkins, joining Austin Rivers in the backcourt.
And they stayed on the floor throughout the ensuing second-half comeback.
“[Playing them] was an indication we were winning with them,” Krzyzewski said.
Such consistency has been non-existent for this team. This season Krzyzewski has started seven different lineups, and none of them for more than six consecutive games.
Within moments of stepping on the court, their presence was felt as Curry nabbed a steal at the 17:37 mark and threw it ahead to Cook for a layup. Curry and Rivers led Duke with 22 and 20 points, respectively, with 17 of Curry’s coming in the second half.
“We had a rhythm,” Rivers said. “We were playing well with each other.”
The trio’s quickness and athleticism was critical as Krzyzewski implemented a press defense, trapping Miami’s guards near midcourt. At one point, Curry stole the ball on two consecutive Hurricane possessions, leading to a 3-pointer on the first series and a Josh Hairston layup on the second.
Those baskets brought the Miami lead down to eight, after it had been as large as 16 just 1:31 earlier. Rivers, Curry and Cook combined for six steals.
“We just wanted to trap the ball to speed them up,” Cook said. “And it worked, but in the end they made some tough plays and we didn’t respond.”
Rivers played a career-high 43 minutes as the only of those three to start the game on the floor.
“I’m not tired now. I could play another overtime—I wish we could,” Rivers said.
Dawkins and Thornton joined him in the starting lineup, combining to go just 2-of-8 from the field for six points. That pair began the overtime period on the floor, but was subbed out after just seven seconds.
Although Rivers, Curry and Dawkins sparked the comeback, they were far from perfect down the stretch. Rivers began the extra period by missing a 3-pointer. Curry followed that up with two missed free throws and then a missed jumper on the next possession.
On Duke’s ensuing turn with the ball, Rivers missed two free throws. With 26 seconds remaining, Cook missed two from the line with the Blue Devils down just one. The trio went 0-for-6 from the charity stripe in overtime.
“We make the free throws, we win the game,” Rivers said. “We had the lead, we had chances and to come all the way back and give it away—there’s nothing worse than that.”
Duke’s next chance with the ball—after Miami’s Reggie Johnson continued the trend of abysmal free throw shooting with two misses of his own—Cook airballed a shot from the middle of the floor, attempting to shoot over the much larger Johnson.
The Blue Devils’ furious comeback, however, began with those three guards. Cook shot just 3-of-9 from the field, but he and Curry tied for the team high with four assists each. Cook assisted Kelly’s 3-pointer and Curry made the pass for Mason Plumlee’s dunk in overtime—the team’s only five points in extra time. Cook’s 3.43 assist-to-turnover ratio would be the best of any Duke freshman in school history.
But listening to the players after this game, there were no threads of optimism within the locker room.
“That’s the worst loss I’ve ever had in my life,” Rivers said. “I just don’t have the words. It’s not a good feeling.”
Maybe, though, despite the messiness of the loss, the team found a cleaner backcourt rotation to lead them through the rest of the season.
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