For a lot of this season, Duke, well, hasn't really looked like Duke. It's understandable: the team just established an identity right about the time Amile Jefferson was injured and had to start over.
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It wasn't encouraging to hear that Coach K didn't make the trip, either. Apparently he came down with something and his doctor ordered him to stay home.
Erratic play continued into the first half at Georgia Tech as the Yellow Jackets controlled the paint and scored easily. In particular, Nick Jacobs, sort of a journeyman big man, was terrific. Duke just couldn't stop him early.
Tech reached 60% from the floor in the first half, finished it at 58%, and was playing with confidence and verve. Georgia Tech had a 28-10 advantage inside.
Duke was a bit less than that. Duke did shoot well from outside, outscoring Tech from three-point range 18-3 in the first half.
In that half though the only reliable offensive performer was Grayson Allen.
The second half was different. It was almost like Duke - it was like that moment in Rocky, when Rocky gets mad at Apollo Creed and fights back. He's not scared of him anymore.
Not that Tech is Apollo Creed, but Duke responded like Rocky. And that's huge.
For the first time in a good while, Duke looked like Duke.
On defense, Duke switched to man-to-mane and made Tech play tentative and the confidence the Yellow Jackets showed early evaporated.
At one point Georgia Tech missed ten straight shots as Duke ripped off a 16-2 run.
And Duke was playing with a positive arrogance, forcing long shots, taking the ball away, running for layups.
When you think about it, Duke really hasn't had many fast breaks this season. Well, it had a lot in Atlanta.
It was a different team in many respects: Derryck Thornton, who started, was really good for most of the game. He penetrated, he passed, he defended hard. He hit open shots too.
The freshman finished with 15 on 7-11 shooting.
Brandon Ingram was a bit rocky early but came on to score 14. Marshall Plumlee had eight while Matt Jones managed six. Luke Kennard had eight off the bench. Chase Jeter got some time for the first time in awhile and had some really solid moments.
But the star of the night was Allen. The sophomore guard finished with 27 on 9-17 from the floor including 7-10 from three point range. Georgia Tech simply could not stop him.
And Duke toughened up. Duke fought hard and even out rebounded Tech, although not on the offensive boards. Still, Duke outrebounded Tech 39-38 and lost the offensive battle 14-9, which is an improvement.
After Tech's hot start, Duke limited the Yellow Jackets to 42.5% for the game and Tech hit just two three point shots.
Where Duke struggled was in the closing minutes, where a number of mistakes were made, including several by Thornton. On one occasion he had a backcourt call. On others he made poor decisions.
Tech had a chance to rally but fortunately for Duke, coudn't capitalize.
With the win, Duke moves to 5-4 in the conference and 16-6 overall. Next up is a rematch Saturday with State, and presumably, Coach K will be there.
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