In the 2017 ACC Tournament quarterfinals, Duke came back down as many as 12 in the second half to knock off Louisville.
In a game between two top 15 teams that felt like a conference tournament final, the No. 14 Duke Blue Devils rallied down as many as 12 points in the second half to defeat the No. 10 Louisville Cardinals in the 2017 ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
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“We’re so pleased and proud of the win because we beat a heck of a team, a team that could win it all.” Mike Krzyzewski said after the victory. “Hopefully we have some gas in the tank here as we push on, but I’m proud of my guys.”
Duke was once again led by future lottery pick Jayson Tatum (25 points) and Luke Kennard (24 points on 10 rebounds) but they also received massive production from Grayson Allen (18 points) for the first time since Allen dropped 25 against North Carolina in Cameron Indoor in early February. Allen, who has been battling an ankle injury while coming off the bench, played with fresh legs and gave Duke newfound energy off the bench.
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Add in Harry Giles impact off the pine — four points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals — and Duke looked like a Final Four contender on Thursday afternoon.
But it wasn’t easy by any means, especially against a Louisville team that has Final Four potential themselves.
The Cardinals led the Blue Devils for the majority of the first half and opened up a double-digit lead at the start of the second half by using their transition attack, size advantage and lock down defense. Duke’s defense had no answer for Louisville’s speed and pace offensively and it looked like their legs were starting to wear down with 14 minutes left in the game.
Most importantly, Deng Adel was stuck to Kennard like glue, limiting his touches and clean looks. With Kennard only having eight points with less than 11 minutes remaining, Duke’s offense was two-dimensional and lacked the transition element that made Louisville so successful.
And then the game suddenly flipped.
Duke’s switch to zone forced Louisville to play from the outside-in and kept them out of transition. Louisville’s shooting that has been much improved during ACC play fell off a cliff (19 percent for the game) and the Cardinals’ best player, Donovan Mitchell, finished just 3-of-14 from the field for eight points.
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“We could not stop them transition in man,” Krzyzewski said postgame regarding his switch to zone. “It changed the tempo.”
However, it wasn’t just Duke’s defense that carried them to victory. It was Kennard, who suddenly caught fire and couldn’t miss. The sophomore guard hit a huge three-pointer to cut Louisville’s lead down to one with 6:33 remaining, made two free throws to tie the game up at 70 with 5:48 left and drilled another trey with 4:55 remaining that nearly blew the roof off the Barclays Center.
Louisville didn’t help their case by missing free throws, though. They missed 11 free throws, including three critical ones in the final four minutes.
“We’ve got to cure these free throw shooting woes,” Rick Pitino said following the game. “You’re going to have to shoot a decent percentage to win a National Championship because it’s like a turnover. If you shoot 15-for-26, some of those being in the first half in 1-of-1, your beating yourself.”
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Louisville will still likely be a top-three seed in the NCAA Tournament while Duke will still have an opportunity to impress the Selection Committee as the ACC Tournament rolls on. The Blue Devils will face off against their arch rival and the No. 1 team in the conference in the North Carolina Tar Heels on Friday evening in the semis. If the Blue Devils go on to win that game and pull off another victory in the ACC final, Duke could move up to the two or three line. Regardless of their seeds, both of these teams look like National Title contenders and it sure showed in one of the best games of Championship Week thus far.