HALFTIME: Georgia Tech 40, Duke 36

ATLANTA—With associate head coach Jeff Capel filling in for Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski—who is back in Durham under the weather—the Blue Devils have struggled early on. 

Duke trails Georgia Tech 40-36 at the half at McCamish Pavilion, playing its first game as an unranked team since 2007. After looking out of rhythm and sluggish in the first four minutes, the Blue Devils relied on their perimeter shooting to stop the early bleeding. But the Blue Devils have not found a solution to the Yellow Jackets' offensive success in the interior. 

Georgia Tech jumped out to an early 5-0 lead thanks in part to two easy dunks. From the tip, the Yellow Jackets were set on penetrating and feeding the ball inside, opening up a 28-10 edge in points of the paint.

After beginning the game 1-of-6 from the field, the Blue Devils got back in the game behind their perimeter shooting. A Matt Jones 3-pointer followed by a Plumlee dunk and consecutive triples from sophomore guard Grayson Allen gave Duke a 15-12 lead by the first media timeout. The Blue Devils cooled down in the half's closing minutes, though, missing eight of their last 10 shots—many of them right around the rim—as the Yellow Jackets surged back ahead by as many as seven. Nick Jacobs bested his season average with 12 points down low to key Georgia Tech's 58.1 percent shooting.

Allen has led the way for the Blue Devils with 11 points. All three of the Jackonsville native's field goals came from beyond the arc.

Here are some observations from the first half:

• After entering off the bench in Duke’s last several, freshman Derryck Thornton started at point guard as Luke Kennard came off the bench.
• After missing his first shots, freshman forward Brandon Ingram finished the half with nine points.
• Chase Jeter’s inability to avoid foul trouble continued. The freshman picked up two fouls in his first two minutes of play.
• Before tonight, the last time Mike Krzyzewski missed a game was during the 1994-95 season when he was absent for 19 games with a back injury.
• Freshman forward Antonio Vrankovic entered the game in the first half, seeing the court for the first time since Dec. 28 against Elon. The 7-footer picked up a foul and was whistled for a three-seconds violation in one minute of action