In Duke’s first real test without injured forward Amile Jefferson, Utah dominated the Blue Devils inside and dealt Duke its second defeat of the season 77-75 in overtime at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils made a big second-half run to take the lead, but did not score for the final 4:12 of regulation as the Utes scored five straight points to take the game to overtime.
Revisiting the three keys to the game:
Anticipate a strong start from the Utes: Duke surged to an early 8-2 lead behind 3-pointers by Brandon Ingram and Derryck Thornton. Utah responded with three straight dunks to tie the game, though, starting an 18-5 run that gave the Utes a cushion that held up for much of the game. The Utes beat the Blue Devils down the floor in transition several times during their run, and Duke did not take lead again until midway through the second half.
Find a player to lead the team: The Blue Devils were dead in the water, down 42-33 in the second half with their usual leader in big games—Grayson Allen—struggling mightily with flu-like symptoms. That’s when Ingram sparked an 18-2 run with a couple of strong drives to the basket and a big steal before Matt Jones drilled a deep 3-pointer to give Duke the lead. Ingram has taken his game to another level in his last four games, but couldn’t quite finish the job and missed a short attempt in the closing seconds of overtime that would have tied the game.
Play Duke defense: Utah exploited its mismatch in the post by trying to feed star center Jakob Poeltl, who scored almost at will in the opening minutes when he received the ball in the paint. But Duke did a good job of mixing things up on defense, opening the game in a 2-3 zone before shifting to a 1-3-1 and finally playing most of the game in man-to-man, which made it difficult for the Utes to find openings inside and led to 19 Ute turnovers. The Blue Devils lost this game with poor offense—shooting 29.9 percent from the floor—not poor defense.
Three Key Stats
Utah blocks nine shots: Duke could not find any offense in the paint, and the Utes’ formidable frontcourt repeatedly turned away driving layups at the rim. The Blue Devils’ shots were blocked on three straight possessions in the final two minutes of regulation with opportunities to take the lead, and guard Lorenzo Bonam finished the game with four rejections while Poeltl added three.
Grayson Allen shoots 3-of-18 from the field: It was a rough game for Duke’s leading scorer, much like his performance against Kentucky in the Blue Devils’ other loss this year. His shots did not fall in the lane or on the perimeter, and he also went 0-for-2 from the foul line, missing a critical front end of a one-and-one with 3:13 remaining and Duke leading 60-57.
Utah wins the rebounding battle, 56-38: Jefferson had been Duke’s primary rebounder, averaging 10.3 boards per game before his injury, and though the Blue Devils outrebounded an overmatched Georgia Southern team 55-29 Tuesday, they could not replicate that performance Saturday. Poeltl led the Utes with 14 boards while Kennard surprisingly led Duke on the glass with eight—five on the offensive end. Graduate student Marshall Plumlee and freshman center Chase Jeter combined for just six rebounds as both were outplayed by Poeltl in all phases of the game.
Three Key Plays
7:19 remaining, second half: Allen drives to the basket but is swatted by Kyle Kuzma, but Allen taps the ball back to Kennard at the top of the key for the first of three offensive rebounds on the possession with Poeltl on the bench with four fouls. Kennard finishes the play with a tip-in off a missed 3-pointer by Allen to extend Duke’s lead to four.
1:50 remaining, second half: Thornton is blocked at the rim by Bonam, and Poeltl grabs the rebound to send an outlet pass to Bonam. The junior college transfer finds Kuzma streaking down the floor on the fast break to easily lay it in, tying the game with what ended up being the last points of regulation.
0:03 remaining, overtime: Duke almost pulls off a miracle comeback in the last 10 seconds of overtime after Kennard finished a 4-point play to cut the Utes’ lead to two and Utah turned it over on the ensuing inbounds pass. Ingram powered through his man on a last-ditch drive to the basket, but his short runner that would have forced double overtime bounced harmlessly off the back rim.
And the Duke game ball goes to…. Luke Kennard
The freshman guard finished the game with 24 points on 5-of-9 shooting and set new career-highs in both scoring and rebounding. Kennard’s 3-point shots finally started falling late in the game as he shot 2-of-5 from deep, knocking down a trey from the right wing that produced Duke’s final points of regulation and the triple through contact with seven seconds left in overtime. The Franklin, Ohio, native was also the only Blue Devil that had any success attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line, going 12-of-13 from the charity stripe.
And the Utah game ball goes to…. Jakob Poeltl
Duke had no answer for the 7-footer from Austria, as he poured in 19 points with an array of agile post moves and mid-range jump shots. He challenged the Blue Devils at the position where Duke is weakest and played strong defense, as Plumlee was a non-factor throughout the contest before fouling out in overtime. The only thing that could stop Poeltl at Madison Square Garden was his own foul trouble, as he only played 28 minutes and fouled out in the final minute of overtime.
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