After being down in at halftime in all three games in Portland, No. 1 Duke roared back once again to shock No. 7 Florida to take the PK80 Motion Bracket title. The Blue Zone gives three key takeaways, stats and plays, and looks forward for the Blue Devils:
Three key takeaways
1. Heart attack kids
For the third straight game, Duke went down big—down by 15 just about six minutes into the game and then falling behind 17 points with 10:17 left to play. But for the third game in a row, the Blue Devils slowly chipped away at the lead before regaining control with just 1:11 left in the contest.
Although fans may hate having their hearts race—especially after hearty Thanksgiving helpings and leftovers—these games provide invaluable experience for a young, relatively untested squad. When it comes to crunch time, Duke has shown it can come together as a team and grind out a victory.
2. Marvin Bagley III's consistent brilliance
Throughout the game, the Blue Devils experienced many individual and team lapses. Gary Trent Jr and Grayson Allen went hot in the first half to keep the game close, before being held scoreless for the first 10 minutes of the second. Wendell Carter Jr was plagued by foul trouble and was held scoreless for the first 30 minutes of the contest. The team struggled to set up any form of defense for stretches against the high-flying Gators and watched helplessly as 3-pointers rained down.
But one constant remained—Bagley. The freshman forward shot 50 percent from the field for 30 points and pulled down 15 total rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. With an array of post-moves, jump-hooks, and floaters, Bagley was unstoppable. If Bagley continues his consistently dominant play, he may be able to make up for some of a young team's flaws.
3. Allen’s fluid role
With Duval missing shots early and the offense failing to find any rhythm, Duke opted to bench Duval and let Allen run the point. Although Allen struggled in this role at times last season, he has found some success thus far running the offense and finding open men. He often drove into the lane and dropped the ball off to big men or punished defenders for helping on screens. His contributions to the Blue Devils, even when his shots are not falling, have been critical in the wins thus far.
Three Key Stats
1. 53.8 Percent
Allen and Trent overcame their multi-game slump to shoot the ball from deep at a solid clip. The duo shot 53.8 percent from downtown en-route to a combined 29 points. Although they were quiet for much of the second half, their shooting during Duke’s run in the first half was critical in preventing the game from getting too far out of hand. Trent hit three threes in a row to cut Florida’s lead to one, after which Allen followed up to connect on two deep balls of his own to give the Blue Devils a five-point lead.
2. 95 Percent
The Blue Devils went 19-for-20 from the charity stripe—by far their best performance of the season at a 95 percent clip. Bagley has considerably improved his performance at the line, making his last six against Texas Friday and then converting on nine-of-10 tonight. Duval, who entered the game shooting just 56 percent on his free-throws, made all four of his attempts today.
3. 20 Assists
Duke had a total of 20 assists on 29 made baskets against the Gators. Allen has seen an increased role as primary ball-handler when Duke goes down early–possibly as a move to insert veteran leadership to run the tempo and guide the offense. The senior had seven assists today, one more than Duval, the primary point guard. Even if Allen is struggling shooting or getting into the lane to score, he has shown his value in being a more than capable passer.
Three key plays
1. Bagley back-to-back buckets
With the Blue Devils down five with 2:39 left to play, Bagley made a sweet jumper going to his right and putting it up with left off an assist from Trent. After KeVaughn Allen missed from deep, Carter muscled his way deep into the paint before knocking over a defender to find an open Bagley, who went up strong to cut the deficit to one.
2. Duval steal to Trent’s free throws
With 1:11 left in the game, the Gators held a slim one-point lead. With the shot-clock in single digits, Duval stole the ball from Chris Chiozza and eventually found a streaking Trent. The freshman shooting guard was then fouled going up for a layup, but converted on both of his free-throws to give Duke an 85-84 lead, its first of the second half.
3. Trent steal to seal the deal
With a one-point lead following his free throws, Trent made a rookie mistake reaching in on Jalen Hudson on the perimeter. Luckily, he was bailed out when Hudson missed his free-throw. However, the pressure was back on the defense after the Blue Devils offense suffered a shot-clock violation. This time around, with just 15 seconds left, Trent was able to pick Hudson’s pocket and secure possession before being fouled with just nine ticks left on the clock. He calmly hit both free throws to seal the deal and give Duke an 87-84 victory.
Looking forward
The Blue Devils have come sluggish out the of the gates for three games in a row, needing comebacks in all three to win. Although it has been a good experience for the young team to come together and pull of clutch victories, head coach Mike Krzyzewski would certainly like his squad to come out of the gates stronger.
An inexperienced squad has certainly been exposed in this tournament with poor shooting and defense, but it clearly has been able to regroup when it needs to. When Duke gets an extended break Dec. 9—20, the coaching staff will certainly work to fix these issues and hope to have an even stronger team ready to head into ACC play.
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