Depth issues front and center for Duke big men in loss at Clemson

GREENVILLE, S.C.—Heading into its third ACC road game, Duke had proved that it can manage without Amile Jefferson. After losing to Utah Dec. 19—just two games after Jefferson fractured his foot in practice—the Blue Devils had won five straight games and appeared to be playing some of their best basketball of the season.

But the absence of Jefferson, coupled with Duke’s thin rotation, took a toll in Wednesday night’s 68-63 loss against Clemson.

Freshman Brandon Ingram—the de facto power forward in the Blue Devils’ rotation without Jefferson—picked up his fourth foul with 13:21 left, and Marshall Plumlee was whistled for his fourth with 10:30 to go, exiting with an eight-point Duke lead.

By the time both re-entered the game with 9:32 left—replacing Chase Jeter, who picked up two fouls and fouled out in the 58 seconds he played in place of Plumlee—the advantage was just one. The Tigers had all the momentum, and wound up pulling away as the Blue Devils tried to mitigate any further foul trouble by playing zone.

Duke survived foul trouble for Grayson Allen and Matt Jones a week ago in a win at Wake Forest, but with Ingram and Plumlee one whistle away from being disqualified, the consequences of Jefferson’s injury and head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s short bench loomed large.

“There’s no answer to it. We don’t have alternatives,” Krzyzewski said of dealing with his team’s foul situation. “Those guys have to stay out of foul trouble. I’m not complaining about calls or anything like that. We just have to stay out of foul trouble. All that foul trouble and the lineups we had…you can’t practice some of the things we have to do in a game when those situations hit. It had a huge impact on the game.”

As they did in their win against Virginia Tech Saturday, the Blue Devils started strong, relying on six 3-pointers to jump out to a 12-point lead. Although they failed to draw shooting fouls and did not shoot a free throw in the first half, Duke relied on penetration to kick the ball out to open shooters and find Plumlee for inside looks.

But toward the end of the first half, the Tigers went on a 9-0 run, cutting the lead to three. To make matters worse, Ingram—who contributed 15 points in the first half—picked up his third foul with less than two seconds left before the break, joining Plumlee, Jeter and junior guard Matt Jones in early foul trouble.

Krzyzewski said that the Tigers’ late first-half spurt reflected his team's lack of depth with Jefferson sidelined. The Blue Devils became fatigued after building a double-digit lead and did not have enough energy to hold off Clemson’s initial comeback.

“We don’t have any alternatives, unless we petition for more timeouts,” Krzyzewski said. “The Amile thing, we’ve been doing a great job, but it’s hitting us, especially when you get into this conference play. It really hits you. He’s good. It just hits you. We’ve done a really good job while he’s been away to be where we’re at.”

When Duke began the second half, the fouls continued to mount and quickly affected the team’s play on both ends of the court. Soon after Ingram picked up his fourth foul—which forced him to leave the floor for more than four minutes—Jones collected his third foul and Jeter fouled out. The pair of available Blue Devil big men on the bench—redshirt sophomore Sean Obi and freshman Antonio Vrankovic—continued to sit, as Ingram and Plumlee returned to try to close out the game.

The foul trouble impacted Duke’s willingness to attack the basket. The Blue Devils continued to struggle to create contact, and when they did reach the foul line, they missed their free throws, finishing 2-of-7 from the charity stripe. When Ingram returned, he only took one shot in the final nine minutes.

“I came out with my fourth foul and I was less aggressive going to the basket,” Ingram said. “[The fouls] slowed us down. We weren’t playing smart. I was a little tentative. It’s a learning experience.”

When Plumlee picked up his fourth foul, Duke’s ability to protect the basket on the defensive end also suffered. The Tigers relied on back-cuts and the dribble-drive to penetrate the interior and kick the ball out to open shooters along the wing. The Blue Devils’ switch to a zone with Ingram defending at the top of the key did not solve the defensive woes, as the Tigers quickly converted consecutive 3-pointers against the zone.

With Jefferson expected to be out for an extended period of time, the Blue Devils have no choice but to push forward with their thin lineup as they face the meat of their conference schedule.

“We’re not a great team. We’re a good team. And we don’t have subs,” Krzyzewski said. “We have to fight through it.”