Duke Basketball: 3 takeaways from crushing overtime loss to Georgia Tech

1. Matthew Hurt has been Duke’s consistent source of offense – but they need someone else when he’s out

It is no mystery what was the exact moment when this game shifted in Georgia Tech’s favor – it was the 6:14 mark of the second half, where the Blue Devils trailed by just four.  It was at that time when Matthew Hurt – just 10 seconds after checking in with his fourth foul – collected his fifth foul and was disqualified.

At that time, Hurt had scored 12 points, recorded four rebounds, and dished out two assists in 29 total minutes.  He was just a minus-1 in those 29 minutes, being a plus-6 in the first half but a minus-7 in the second stanza.

That obviously insinuates that Hurt was not nearly as effective in the second half, which is partly true – he did score just two points, but he was riddled with foul trouble after picking up his second, third, and fourth fouls in a three-minute span halfway through the latter stanza.  That quickly forced him out of the game, which – most importantly – forced Duke’s best offensive weapon to sit out.

It is no coincidence, then, that the Yellow Jackets went on a 6-2 run to take an eight-point lead – their largest of the game – with just under five minutes left to play.  That, obviously, did not present much of a problem for the Blue Devils, considering they stormed back on an 8-0 run to force the game to overtime – but who the Blue Devils were forced to rely on does not necessarily bode well.

Two of those eight points came from Jordan Goldwire, while the final six came from Joey Baker.  To put into context just how woeful those two have been offensively, by way of shooting the ball: Goldwire has not scored double-digits since January 26th, in the previous meeting with Georgia Tech.  Baker, meanwhile, was held scoreless in three-straight games entering this tilt.

Obviously, it is great to see both accept the challenge and score for a Duke team that desperately needed offense – but it cannot be ignored how stagnant the Blue Devils’ offense looked without Hurt in the lineup.  That translated into the overtime period, as well, where Duke had just four made field goals (4-13 FG) and two assists – and a clip of .929 points per possession, their lowest of any of the three stanzas.

Those concerns were further exposed when Mark Williams fouled out in overtime – but it began the moment Hurt fouled out of the game.  It is no coincidence that 37 of Duke’s 73 points in the overtime loss to Louisville came from Hurt – and that the game shifted in the Cardinals’ favor the moment he fouled out in overtime.

Those woes came to a heel in overtime, particularly in the closing possessions where Duke had an opportunity to tie the game up with a three-pointer with just seconds remaining.  The reality for Duke is that, outside of Hurt’s 45.9%, no one on the roster is shooting better than 33.6% from beyond the arc – that mark belongs to DJ Steward.  If the Blue Devils hope to be a legitimate threat to teams, they need another legitimate, proven scorer – who will not disappear down the stretch.