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Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from tough win versus Hartford

By Zach De Jong

DURHAM, NC - DECEMBER 05: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils defends a shot by John Carroll #5 of the Hartford Hawks in the second half at Cameron Indoor Stadium on December 5, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NC - DECEMBER 05: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils defends a shot by John Carroll #5 of the Hartford Hawks in the second half at Cameron Indoor Stadium on December 5, 2018 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Lance King/Getty Images) /
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OMAHA, NE – MARCH 25: The Duke Blue Devils cheerleaders carry their schools flags on to the court prior to the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional against the Kansas Jayhawks at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
OMAHA, NE – MARCH 25: The Duke Blue Devils cheerleaders carry their schools flags on to the court prior to the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Midwest Regional against the Kansas Jayhawks at CenturyLink Center on March 25, 2018 in Omaha, Nebraska. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Duke Basketball struggled versus Hartford for the first thirty minutes of Wednesday’s game, but the Blue Devil’s found a way to fight back in the second half.

The Duke Blue Devil‘s advanced to a (8-1) record on Wednesday night versus the Hartford Hawks. The Hawks stayed in striking distance for the first thirty minutes of the game, before the athleticism of the Blue Devil’s took over.

Not only was athleticism a problem for the Hawks, but fatigue set in for the experienced team. The Hawks typically use a six or seven man rotation. These rotations are mainly made-up of seniors.

The short-handed Hawks eventually just ran out of gas with their limited roster. On top of the limited the roster, the Hawks star player John Carroll fouled out of the game early in the second half.

Mike Krzyzewski was furious with his team for most of the game. He was worried that the team would be in a fog due to the intense homework and papers this week. This seemed true as the young Blue Devil team came out showing no real enthusiasm.

Zion Williamson became the spark the Blue Devil’s needed in the second half to take control of the game. After a timeout halfway through the second half, Williamson went to his teammates and got them pumped up.

After Williamson got his teammates to play with more effort and enthusiasm the Blue Devils jumped out to a twenty point lead. The Blue Devils ended up beating the Hawks with a final score of 84-54.

The Blue Devil’s got the win after a hard-fought game from the Hawks, which often reveals a lot about both teams. Here are 3 takeaways from the Blue Devil’s fight versus the Hawks on Wednesday night.

Cam Reddish’s shooting struggles continued.

Cam Reddish has proven that he is a prolific three-point shooter. But he has also shown signs of youth as he has gone through shooting slumps and inconsistency.

Wednesday night’s game versus the Hawks was another game where Reddish struggled to shoot the ball. Reddish finished the game with a total of five points and shot one of nine from the three-point line. This kind of shooting is not accustom for Reddish as he has shot 43 percent on the year from behind the arc.

A bright spot for the young guard is that he continuously plays hard defense, even if his shot isn’t falling. The nice thing about playing defense is that it travels with you no matter where you play.

Look for Reddish to break out of the shooting slump before ACC play begins.

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