For the first time this season, No. 3 Duke (15-1, 2-1 in the ACC) will enter play having lost a game. This matchup may not appear competitive considering Duke’s pedigree, but with a crippled lineup the Blue Devils will face an opponent in Georgia Tech (10-5, 0-3 in the ACC) looking to exploit this opportunity to steal a win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Here are three keys to the game:
Increasing the bench’s productivity
Against N.C. State, the Blue Devil bench managed to score merely 10 points, all of which were scored by forward Amile Jefferson. Despite Ryan Kelly's injury, the bench managed just 37 minutes on the floor. With a roster that has lost one of its main offensive weapons i, the bench will remain an important aspect to Duke’s success or failure. Each player— Tyler Thornton, Marshall Plumlee and Alex Murphy, as well as Jefferson—will need to make contributions to the team both on the offensive and defensive end while giving the starters like guards Quinn Cook and Seth Curry a break on the bench. Jefferson will have a tall task defending the Yellow Jackets top scorer, freshman swingman Marcus Georges-Hunt, from breaking down the Duke defense. If the bench steps up to fill in for some of the scoring and defensive intensity lost with Kelly, then the Blue Devils have a good chance of succeeding on the court.
Strong performances from Curry, Plumlee and the freshmen
The biggest key of night will be the health of guard Seth Curry who is the team’s second leading scorer with 16.4 points per game. If he as well as forward Mason Plumlee can contribute to the offense in effective way, then Duke has a great opportunity to rebound from the team’s first loss. Without the seniors’ production in the absence of forward Ryan Kelly, the Blue Devils could find a lot of difficulty scoring the basketball. Against N.C. State, Plumlee and Curry combined for 37 of Duke’s 76 points.
In conjunction with the performance of the senior leaders, the freshmen, starting guard Rasheed Sulaimon and forward Amile Jefferson, will need to increase their net production from recent games. Jefferson had ten points in the loss to N.C. State while Sulaimon, who has shown moments of offensive spark, has struggled over the past five games averaging a mere 6.4 points per game, around half of his average early this season. The Blue Devils will need significant contributions from the oldest and youngest members of the team in order command the flow of the game.
Responding well to adversity
This game will determine the kind of team this Duke squad is. After fighting to maintain an undefeated record against some of the top teams in college basketball, the Blue Devils fell in a difficult road game to N.C. State last game. With Curry still ailing a leg injury and Kelly completely out of commission, Duke will need to respond early against Georgia Tech. The key will be coming out with the same energy, effort, and offensive flow that have characterized this team thus far this season. The leadership will need to come from Plumlee in the paint setting the tone for the game with hard rebounding and effective post play. The rest of the team will have an opportunity to settle into the game with this unorthodox lineup for the Blue Devils if Plumlee can be good early.
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