Duke Basketball: Takeaways from Blue Devils gritty win over Georgia Tech

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 31: The Duke Blue Devils bench reacts after a three-point shot by Wendell Moore Jr. #0 of the Duke Blue Devils during the second half of their game against the Boston College Eaglesat Cameron Indoor Stadium on December 31, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. Duke won 88-49. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA – DECEMBER 31: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski of the Duke Blue Devils (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

Duke basketball continued their strong play, winning their eight-straight game and moving to 4-0 in the ACC with Tuesday’s road win vs. Georgia Tech.

The No. 2 Duke Blue Devils (14-1) went into Wednesday’s road matchup with Georgia Tech looking to keep the good times rolling. Duke had won seven-straight games heading into Wednesday and have not lost to the Yellow Jackets since 2010, so everything was set up for this be a big-time Duke win. Things were by no means easy but Duke basketball indeed continued its dominance of Georgia Tech.

Things got off to a rather rough start for Duke basketball, as the Yellow Jackets raced out to a 14-6 lead after tip-off. Duke was eventually able to stabilize and take control. Tre Jones scored on an offensive rebound putback as the halftime buzzer sounded to put Duke ahead by 11.

But the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets would not go down easy, as Coach K himself stated, “They knocked us back at the beginning of each half.”

The Yellow Jackets clawed back into the game behind the great rim protection of James Banks III, who had a whopping seven blocks; and the scoring of guard Jose Alvarado, who scored 18 points on 58.3% shooting while also serving as a great playmaker.

Ultimately, Duke’s dominant defense—which is currently No. 3 overall in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric—carried them to the finish line as they made Georgia Tech miss 14 of their final 15 field goal attempts. Duke basketball is on an eight-game winning streak and in control of the ACC race heading into a matchup with Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor.

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