Duke basketball shuts down No. 6 Louisville in 63-52 victory, breaks two-game skid

LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Blue Devil defense got back to its winning form Saturday—by completely switching things up.

Employing a 2-3 zone for much of the contest, No. 4 Duke broke its two-game losing streak with a 63-52 win against No. 6 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center. A new-look defense kept the Cardinals off-balance all afternoon, and the Blue Devil starting frontcourt of Jahlil Okafor and Amile Jefferson combined for 37 points to power the team to a much-needed victory.

Duke—a program that has very rarely deviated from man-to-man defense under head coach Mike Krzyzewski—did so Saturday, using a zone to avoid facing ball-screen situations against Cardinal speedsters Terry Rozier and Chris Jones. The decision paid off, as Louisville shot 29.5 percent, going more than five minutes without scoring in the first half as Duke surged ahead by double-digits.

"We thought this would be a good game for [the zone]. We needed something new," Jefferson said. "Guys adapted to it really well.... It helped us to not have to chase them all the way out there [in man-to-man] because they have really good guards."

Duke's decision to eliminate dribble penetration opportunities with the zone forced the Cardinals (15-3, 3-2 in the ACC) to knock down outside shots in order to stay close, but perimeter success proved to be elusive. Louisville went 4-of-25 from beyond the arc—1-of-18 without Rozier's three treys.

Head coach Rick Pitino has seen his team struggle mightily from downtown all year—Saturday was just the Cardinals' fourth-worst 3-point clip this season—and with Rozier and Jones unable to create in the paint, Louisville couldn't keep up.

"Zone is a smart move because it takes away from Okafor having to come out [against ball-screens]," Pitino said, adding that he would have made the same switch after Miami's ball-screens gave Duke fits Tuesday. "We are a little offensively challenged from the perimeter, so we've got to be meticulous with our paint touches.... Not until the second half did we get what really hurts the zone, and that's paint touches."

In a crowded frontcourt that included Preseason AP All-Americans Jahlil Okafor and Montrezl Harrell, it was Jefferson who rose to the occasion in the first half for the Blue Devils (15-2, 3-2). The Philadelphia native poured in 10 of his career-high 19 points and grabbed six rebounds, finding open holes in the Cardinals' matchup zone.

After scoring four points in Duke's first three ACC games, Jefferson wanted to set the tone early for his team. The captain did so by going strong to the rim, at one point going straight at a Louisville defender for a would-be dunk. Jefferson drew the whistle as the ball hit the rim and launched 25 feet into the air—a new level of aggressiveness for the junior, who generally scores in back-to-the-basket situations.

"I've been trying to figure out how to lead, and those last two games I don't feel like I did a good job," Jefferson said. "I thought we needed something different on the court.... Sometimes I get the ball and I don't even look at the basket, but today it was just about being aggressive and attacking."

Okafor was quiet in the opening frame, attempting just three shots and heading to the locker room with four points. But Harrell was even quieter, not scoring until he beat the first-half buzzer with a friendly bounce. The junior finished with a double-double—10 points and 14 rebounds—but like Louisville's long-range shooters, was never able to get in sync.

The Blue Devils led 30-20 at halftime, and a Quinn Cook triple on the second half's first possession kickstarted a 16-5 run that allowed Duke to take complete control. During that stretch, it was the Blue Devil guards—not Louisville pick-pockets Rozier and Jones—that created havoc, turning the Cardinals over and getting opportunities in transition. Louisville's full-court press didn't seem to bother Duke—its lead ballooned to 21 at one point—until the final few minutes.

After setting up Jefferson with open looks in the first half, Okafor came alive in the second half, hitting eight of his 10 shots, most of them coming right around the rim. The Blue Devils outscored the Cardinals 32-24 in the paint.

"Jah was really patient. They're such a good defensive team, it's tough to score against them," Krzyzewski said. "They took away Jah, but he still played, and then some things opened up."

Louisville tried to climb its way back into contention with a personal 7-0 run from Rozier, but Tyus Jones responded by breaking the Cardinals' full-court press and drawing a defender and dishing to Okafor for an uncontested dunk to go back up by 16.

The Cardinals were able to make things interesting in the latter part of the second half, as Duke fouls put Louisville in the bonus with nine minutes left in the game. Despite the shooting woes, the Cardinals knocked down 8-of-10 free throws in the second half, but the Blue Devils countered by nailing 13-of-15 shots from the charity stripe to keep the lead in double-digits for the entirety of the second half.

Apart from Okafor and Jefferson, Duke shot just 7-for-26 and made just four triples of its own. As the team continues to search for the offensive success it enjoyed throughout nonconference play, the Blue Devils took a step toward putting forth a complete game Saturday and not letting the offensive struggles affect their defense, something Krzyzewski said they haven't done since their win at Wisconsin Dec. 3.

"As long as you're winning, kids have a hard time listening to [their mistakes]," Krzyzewski said. "They start to think even if we play poorly we can pull it out.... I think they realized that's not going to work any more."

Duke will return to Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday at 7 p.m. against Pittsburgh, seeking Krzyzewski's 999th career victory.