Despite a strong first half by Grayson Allen, No. 20 Duke fell to No. 18 Louisville 71-64 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Ky. The last 10 minutes of the game were disastrous for head coach Mike Krzyzewski's squad, as the Blue Devils went more than eight minutes without hitting a field goal and their lack of depth on the bench came back to haunt them.
Revisiting the three keys to the game:
- Get contributions from the other guards: In this regard, the Blue Devils failed on Saturday. Before fouling out and subsequently garnering a technical foul on his way to the bench, Allen had 29 points, carrying the Blue Devils throughout a game where Brandon Ingram did not play well. After testing the ankle he sprained Wednesday against No. 5 North Carolina, junior Matt Jones sat out against the Cardinals leaving freshmen Luke Kennard and Derryck Thornton as the only two remaining scholarship guards on the roster. Kennard finished just 3-of-10 from the field and played much of the second-half with four fouls, and Thornton took a hard fall that sent him to the locker room before he returned for the closing stretch of the game.
- Keep up with Damion Lee: Lee collected 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting, leading the charge as the Cardinals roared back from a 12-point deficit in the second half. The swingman hit three 3-pointers to fuel Louisville's second-half comeback and looked like a completely different player from the one who scored just 10 points at Cameron Indoor Stadium less than two weeks ago.
- Fight the fatigue: The Blue Devils seemingly ran out of steam at the end of Saturday's game. After taking a commanding 11-point lead with less than 12 minutes remaining, Duke was outscored 30-12 the rest of the way as Louisville's high-pressure defense took its toll. With Thornton exiting with an injury and both Allen and Kennard fouling out, head coach Mike Krzyzewski was forced to turn to freshman center Chase Jeter down the stretch. Ingram—who finished with a career-high 10 turnovers—appeared the most affected by the fatigue, playing 39 minutes Saturday after not getting a breather Wednesday in Chapel Hill.
Three key moments:
- 12:58 remaining, second half: After a scrum for a loose ball, Jaylen Johnson elbows Allen in the upper lip—just one example of the physical nature of Saturday's game. Johnson was issued a technical foul, and Allen hit one of two free throws to extend the Duke lead to 11.
- 11:38 remaining, second half: At this point, the short-handed Blue Devils nurse a 52-41 lead and appear headed for a sixth straight win. But for the remainder of the game, Duke unraveled as the Cardinals home crowd came alive with Louisville turning turnovers into easy points with its full-court press to go on a 30-12 run.
- 3:55 remaining, second half: Driving to the basket, Allen is called for an offensive foul—his fifth of the game. The sophomore expressed disgust with the call, earning a technical foul and giving the Cardinals a pair of free throws and possession of the ball. With the guard fouling out, the Blue Devils struggled to muster any kind of offense down the stretch.
Three key stats:
- Duke finishes with 18 turnovers: The usually sure-handed Ingram was the primary culprit, coughing up the ball 10 times. Louisville came at the Blue Devils with its full-court press and kept the game physical throughout. As a team, Duke entered Saturday's game ranked 10th nationally with just 10.0 turnovers per game, but the Cardinals' length and athleticism sped up the Blue Devils and forced them into bad decisions.
- Louisville's bench outscores Duke's 16-5 : With Jones sitting out after sustaining an ankle sprain at North Carolina and senior Amile Jefferson still out for Duke, the Blue Devils were stuck with just a six-man rotation. The lack of depth meant only Chase Jeter was inserted off the bench and left Duke was almost nothing in the tank for the final stretch of the game. For the Cardinals, Trey Lewis and Ray Spalding combined for 16 points for the team's second unit.
- Duke holds the lead for 26:17, but can't finish: For much of the game, Duke looked the better team. Allen's 3-point stroke and center Marshall Plumlee's effectiveness in the low post and on the boards seemed enough to will the Blue Devils to another short-handed victory. But the cracks started to show early in the second half, as Duke’s fatigue became evident and the Cardinals roared back behind better play on both sides of the floor.
And the Duke game ball goes to… Grayson Allen
Allen was four points shy of his career-high, and the 29 that he collected represented nearly half of Duke’s total before he was forced to exit with his fifth personal foul. Allen remained efficient, converting eight of his 12 shots and eight of his nine free throws. Allen and his absence was felt on the court as the Blue Devils limped towards the finish line.
And the Louisville game ball goes to… Damion Lee
Throughout the matchup—and particularly at the end of the game—Duke had no answer for Lee’s scoring abilities. He hit three threes down the stretch to lead the Cardinal’s charge toward victory, and the transfer from Drexel was also active on the defensive end, forcing four steals and helping Louisville slow down Brandon Ingram. Lee shot just 3-of-15 from the field in the Cardinals' 72-65 loss in Durham Feb. 8, but rebounded in a big way Saturday.
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