In Seth Curry’s locker, a piece of paper hangs on the inside of one door. On it is a quote from author Maya Angelou: “Brotherhood is a condition people have to work for.”
That brotherhood also includes the coaching staff, as head coach Mike Krzyzewski took a technical foul for his team midway through the first half that sparked the No. 5 Blue Devils’ 79-57 rout of Georgia Tech.
“It really fired us up,” Seth Curry said of the call against Krzyzewski. “It’s not something you see often. Coach is really fighting for us, and we try to go out there and fight for him, too.”
With Duke trailing 14-13 and 10:16 left in the first half, freshman guard Tyler Thornton was whistled for a foul on the Yellow Jackets’ Iman Shumpert—the Blue Devils’ eighth of the half. Krzyzewski jumped out of his seat, clenched his fists and yelled in the direction of the nearest referee. In response, Krzyzewski was charged with his first technical foul of the year, and Shumpert made all four free throws—two from the technical and two from the bonus—to give Georgia Tech (11-15, 3-9 in the ACC) an 18-13 lead.
That was the catalyst Duke (25-2, 21-1) needed, as it outscored the Yellow Jackets 24-10 and was not called for another foul in the rest of the half.
“Coach is always on our side,” said Kyle Singler, who bounced back from his two-point performance against Virginia with 15 points and nine rebounds. “We have his back, and he has ours. He’s going to express himself.”
The Blue Devils entered the game planning to attack Shumpert and Glen Rice, who had taken 48 percent of Georgia Tech’s total shots coming into the contest. With a smaller lineup featuring more guards, though, Duke was more vulnerable against 3-point shots. The Yellow Jackets capitalized on their early opportunities, starting the game shooting 5-for-7 from the floor and making their first two 3-point attempts.
“We got spread out too much and were reaching and grabbing,” Krzyzewski said. “We needed to get back to playing a different way, the way we normally play.”
After the Blue Devils’ defense went back to its usual man-to-man, Georgia Tech’s shooting went cold. The Yellow Jackets’ finished the game 33 percent from the floor, its third-worst shooting performance in conference play.
In contrast to Georgia Tech, Duke’s offense improved throughout the game. The Blue Devils shot 50 percent from the field in the second half and were paced by Nolan Smith’s 28 points. Smith shot 50 percent from the field and was also in sync with fellow senior co-captain Singler throughout the contest, creating two highlight-worthy moments.
In the first half with the score 14-10 Georgia Tech, Smith attempted to cut the difference to one with a 3-point shot. When it didn’t fall through, Singler was there to collect the long rebound and sent it right back to Smith—and he delivered on the second chance.
Smith would return the favor with 12:30 left in the game. With Duke on a 24-9 run fueled by Smith’s nine straight points, Ryan Kelly blocked a Shumpert jumper. Smith collected the rebound, pushed the ball up the floor to create a 2-on-1 run and dished to Singler, who finished with a one-handed slam. The student section responded by chanting his name during the ensuing TV timeout.
After the game, Krzyzewski compared Smith’s improvement over the course of the season to Brain Zoubek’s upswing last year.
“Nolan’s had an incredible year. I never talk about Player of the Year, but it’s not even close in our conference,” Krzyzewski said. “This kid, nationally, he’s got to be recognized. He’s been consistent, and understand that he was doing that with Kyrie [Irving]. And then Kyrie goes down, and it’s a big load.”
One thing, though, is primed to go back to the way it was before Irving was injured. With all four teams ranked above Duke in the AP poll—Kansas, Ohio State, Texas and Pittsburgh—losing this past week, the Blue Devils will likely be No. 1 again when the new poll comes out today.
But don’t expect them to openly celebrate their return to the top.
“It doesn’t really matter,” Singler said. “If we deserve it, we deserve it.”
But wouldn’t it be nice?
He smiled. “Of course.”
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