After a dismal shooting performance Saturday, No. 5 Duke was able to put together a solid outing en route to a 68-51 victory against Georgia Tech. Jabari Parker recorded his ninth double-double of the season and Rodney Hood added 14 points of his own in the victory as the Blue Devils can finally set their sights on the Tar Heels.
Revisiting the three keys to the game:
· How will Trae Golden play: Not fantastic. Still bothered by a lingering groin injury, Golden shot 0-for-3 from the floor collecting two points on free throws during the 17 minutes he saw the court in the first half. Golden did not see any time during the second half due to his injury and for a stretch the Georgia Tech offense made an 8-0 run without him. Once Duke stepped up its defense, though, it was clear that without Golden the Yellow Jackets were not going to be able to keep pace with Duke.
· Get the shooters going: Duke’s offense in the first half was the polar opposite of what we saw last Saturday against Maryland. After shooting just 20.8 percent from beyond the arc Saturday, the Blue Devils came out on fire in Atlanta, shooting 7-for-11 for three in the first half. Rodney Hood shot 4-for-6 from long distance in the game, Andre Dawkins was 2-for-3 and Tyler Thornton was a perfect 2-for-2. Duke was able to get hot quick and put some distance between itself and Georgia Tech, taking a double-digit lead midway through the first half and maintaining it all the way through the game.
· Do not look ahead: Duke maintained its focus against Georgia Tech and with this game in the books, the Blue Devils can now look ahead to Thursday's matchup in Chapel Hill. It will be key again for the Blue Devils not to look past the Tar Heels to their matchup with No. 1 Syracuse Saturday. North Carolina is currently riding a seven-game winning streak and is playing their best basketball of the year thus far. Marcus Paige has been dominant during this streak, averaging 18.3 points per game. The Blue Devils are going to need everything they’ve got in the Dean Dome Thursday.
Three key plays:
· 14:11 remaining, first half: The Duke offense got off to a really hot start against Georgia Tech but nobody had a better first six minutes than Rodney Hood. When Hood drained his third three of the game with 14:11 remaining it put Duke up 15-8 at a point when Georgia Tech was still keeping pace with the Blue Devils offense. Hood’s three served as a jumping off point for Duke to start separating itself from the Yellow Jackets and the Blue Devils took a 43-27 lead into the half.
· 9:56 remaining, second half: Rodney Hood’s three point shots killed the Yellow Jackets Tuesday night. After going now 50-30 and seemingly putting the game away, Duke allowed Georgia Tech to climb back into the game with an 8-0 run midway through the second half. With the Blue Devils only up 12 now, Hood sank his fourth three of the night to give Duke’s offense another spark that it needed. This shot was soon followed up by an old fashioned three-point play by Parker, which gave Duke a strong 18-point lead.
· 3:27 remaining, second half: A second play from Tyler Thornton sealed the victory for Duke. Thornton’s second made three-point shot gave Duke its largest lead of the day at 21 points and squashed any hopes of a Georgia Tech comeback late in the game. Duke had been well in command for the entire second half but if there was any life left in Yellow Jackets at all, this shot killed it.
Three key stats:
· Jabari records his ninth double-double: Jarbari Parker netted 16 points and 14 rebounds in the win against Georgia Tech for yet another double-double. Parker has been a force scoring the ball all season and has become dominant on the glass in the past month. He and Amile Jefferson have stepped up to fill a vital role that the Blue Devils needed to be filled and will continue to need to be filled with bigger games going forward.
· Plumlee, Hairston, Jones all see minutes: In what was probably an attempt to give his starters some rest in anticipation of the week ahead, Coach K instituted some hockey-like substitutions by switching out all five starters at once early on in the first-half. This meant that some guys who normally don’t see a lot of minutes were able to get some extended playing time. After giving up some of the lead in the first half, though, Coach K would not make this move again until the end of the second half.
· Tyler Thornton collects 5 assists: In addition to hitting some timely shots, Tyler Thornton was able to fulfill the role of Mr. Facilitation for Duke. Thornton is the type of the player who leads on the floor and from the bench and does not demand the ball in the same way the Parker and Hood do. He is well adapted to a facilitator’s role and has mastered it. It also does not hurt that he was perfect from three-point range for the night.
And the Duke game ball goes to…Jabari Parker
In the win, nobody on either side had a more impressive stat line than Jabari Parker with his 16 points, 14 rebounds, and 3 blocks. But his stats are not the only reason he receives the game ball. Parker was constantly running back to defend in transition and making hustle plays. Parker fulfills the role of a star for the Blue Devils on most days and he certainly played like one Tuesday night.
And the Georgia Tech game ball goes to…Robert Carter, Jr.
There was not much to cheer about during this game if you are a Yellow Jackets fan but one light at the end of the tunnel was the play of Robert Carter, Jr. Georgia Tech is currently decimated by nagging injuries to all of their best players and has been looking for someone to fill the role of “that guy” for the time being. Carter Jr. responded today by putting up a team high 13 points coming off the bench. Carter Jr. is only a sophomore and showed today that he has a lot of potential to build on throughout the next two years.
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