Winslow, Jones continue hot stretch in victory against Yellow Jackets

Rasheed Sulaimon's dismissal from the Duke program made waves last week, but the other two Blue Devils from the Lone Star State have risen to the occasion in his absence.

Texas natives Justise Winslow and Matt Jones combined for 26 points and 15 rebounds in Wednesday's 72-66 win against Georgia Tech. Winslow's 15-point, 10-rebound performance earned the freshman his second consecutive double-double, and Jones' 11-point first half allowed Duke to absorb the shooting woes of Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones.

"[Jones] brings a spark off the bench, just his toughness and he always is talking and just a positive face out there," Cook said. "He played a great first half when myself and Jah were struggling."

Prior to Saturday's game at then-No. 2 Virginia, Winslow had never posted a double-double as a Blue Devil. After dealing with a slew of injuries in recent weeks, the Houston product is starting to look comfortable again on the floor, running downhill on coast-to-coast drives and knocking down 4-of-9 triples in his last three games.

Jones has received the lion's share of the available playing time in the two games following Sulaimon's departure, averaging 23 minutes per contest. The DeSoto, Texas, native had five rebounds and a key steal late in the game Wednesday to seal the win for the Blue Devils. Jones was also more willing to shoot early, hitting his first trey and finishing a pair of tip-ins at the rim.

Head coach Mike Krzyzewski pointed to the Jan. 25 win against St. John's as the starting point for Jones' recent surge. The sophomore played 24 minutes against the Red Storm and has played at least 20 minutes in the four games since, after eclipsing that mark just four times in Duke's first 18 contests.

Jones' role has expanded with the contraction of the roster to eight scholarship players, but he's not looking to fill anyone's shoes.

"I don’t think it was an act to fill a void, I just had to take what I usually do and take to a higher level," Jones said. "[Rasheed] is a great player, but Coach doesn’t ask us to be other people, he asks us to be ourselves."