Charles Mitchell backed down Rodney Hood and lofted a shot with 3.8 seconds to go, down by one. The ball hung on the rim for an eternity before bouncing off and falling harmlessly into the arms of Amile Jefferson, cementing Duke’s win against Maryland last February. With his head in his hands, Mitchell hit the deck, staring up in frustration at the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Terrapins have moved to the Big Ten, but Mitchell will return to Durham with Georgia Tech for another shot at the No. 4 Blue Devils Wednesday at 7 p.m. The junior big man was granted immediate eligibility by the NCAA after transferring in the offseason, and offers a bruising interior presence that will test a Duke squad playing its first home game since Jan. 19.
“He’s a space-eater down low and I believe he’s the best rebounder in the ACC, definitely the best offensive rebounder. He’s a kid who gives them a verve, that presence, that toughness,” Duke assistant coach Nate James said. “Mitchell is a big-time competitor and obviously he’s played against us throughout his career, and I bet he’ll be geared up and excited and ready to compete.”
It’s been quite the 15 days between home games for the Blue Devils (19-3, 5-3 in the ACC). But Duke seemed not to be affected by the whirlwind of emotions triggered by head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 1,000th career win and the dismissal of junior guard Rasheed Sulaimon, storming back to defeat then-No. 2 Virginia Saturday by scoring on 14 of its final 15 possessions.
The Blue Devils tallied 35 points in the final 9:39 of the game after scoring just 34 points in the first 30:21, all against the nation’s best defense in a hostile road environment. After missing its first nine triples, Duke made six of its final eight attempts from distance after freshman Tyus Jones drilled one from the top of the key. Despite the slow start from downtown, confidence was never a worry.
“That’s one of the great thing about playing for Coach [Krzyzewski]. Make or miss, if it’s the right shot to take, he wants you to shoot it and shoot it with confidence,” James said. “A lot of times he even tells guys, ‘This is not your shot—this is Duke’s shot.’ I think that makes you feel a little bit more confident as a player. You don’t have the weight of the world on your shoulders when you’re taking your jump shot.”
The departure of Sulaimon—a 40.1 percent 3-point shooter this season—means the Blue Devils will need Jones and senior captain Quinn Cook to continue their success from long range. The point guard tandem racked up big minutes last week—the duo got a combined eight minutes of rest in the team’s two games—and with another ball-handler out of the picture, those minutes will likely stay up the rest of the year.
They won’t be alone in clocking extra minutes.
After playing just 17 minutes in Duke’s first seven conference games, freshman Grayson Allen saw 11 Saturday against the Cavaliers, finishing with one point. With more time on the table, the Jacksonville, Fla., native is searching for a breakout performance after playing sparingly for much of the year.
“It can be a little discouraging when you are working hard and you want to get out there and play and contribute and help your team. When it doesn’t happen, it can eat away at you a little bit,” James said. “Obviously you don’t know a kid’s going to be dismissed from the program, but now that that situation’s occurred, he’ll be ready to step up and make a play.”
Georgia Tech (10-11, 1-8) sits at the bottom of the ACC, but could be a bounce or two away from a rosier conference record. With the exception of a 57-28 debacle at Virginia, the Yellow Jackets have gone down to the wire in every conference loss. Brian Gregory’s squad fell to the Fighting Irish twice in 11 days—suffering a double-overtime road loss and a three-point home setback—and has dropped four more games decided by five points or less.
The lone ACC triumph for the Yellow Jackets was a 20-point road win at Miami, which dropped 90 points on Duke last month at Cameron. Most recently on the heartbreak tour, Georgia Tech missed two free throws late in overtime that set up N.C. State’s Trevor Lacey to drill a 3-pointer at the buzzer and clinch an 81-80 Wolfpack win.
“They have a group that has not laid down whatsoever in any game they’ve played,” James said. “They’ve shown great spirit and togetherness and they’ve been right there.”
Junior Marcus Georges-Hunt provides most of the sting for the Yellow Jacket offense with 14.0 points per game. Mitchell—who swapped places with former Georgia Tech center and current Terrapin Robert Carter Jr.—chips in with 10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest.
In last February’s 68-51 win against the Yellow Jackets in Atlanta, Krzyzewski pointed to terrific on-ball defense around the perimeter as the key to the Blue Devil win. Although Duke has shown zone of late—including both 2-3 and 3-2 looks Saturday—James said amping up the pressure will again be a point of emphasis against some of Georgia Tech’s less-accomplished ball-handlers.
The Blue Devils are down to just eight scholarship players, and are turning their lack of depth into a rallying cry.
“With all our guys, we say ‘We’re eight strong, but just be prepared each and every day to give the absolute best,’” James said. “Everyone is needed for us to play the type of ball that we can and for us to achieve the goals that we’ve set for ourselves.”
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