WASHINGTON—All year, the Blue Devils have been undermanned and dangerously thin in the frontcourt, susceptible to both foul trouble and fatigue on any given night.
For the most part, Duke has been able to survive this season with just one of those things manifesting itself in any particular game. Thursday in the ACC quarterfinals, though, the Blue Devils had to deal with foul trouble and fatigue together—and it proved to be too much.
After building a 16-point lead, Duke faded down the stretch and allowed Notre Dame to crawl all the way and take a lead late in the second half. The Blue Devils gutted it out to force overtime, but following 40 tough minutes against the Fighting Irish—piled on top of 40 back-and-forth minutes versus N.C. State Wednesday—five more minutes proved too much to handle
Notre Dame scored five points in the first 45 seconds of overtime, clearly energized by its late comeback while Duke was running on fumes. Sophomore Grayson Allen knocked down a 3-pointer to cut the Fighting Irish lead to 75-72, but that was the only field goal the Blue Devils could muster before the outcome was decided.
“I thought we ran out of gas in the overtime,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We had a good look to maybe win the game. That's what we have to manage, we have to manage that.”
Adding to the adversity was the fact that Marshall Plumlee, Duke’s best post player, had fouled out with 3:12 remaining in regulation and logged just 24 minutes due to constant foul trouble. With Zach Auguste and Bonzie Colson looming as weapons down low—the duo combined for 31 points and 34 rebounds—the Blue Devils desperately needed their most veteran player to give them big minutes inside and help keep Notre Dame out of the paint.
But Plumlee could not help from the bench, and he sat a good chunk of the first half after picking up his third foul with 8:30 left in the period. The Warsaw, Ind., native also sported a face mask to protect the broken nose he suffered in Wednesday’s contest—another factor that kept Plumlee from playing his best, as he scored just two points and missed all four of his free throws.
“Well, obviously [the mask] didn't affect him well… He just wasn't the same guy today. Again, I don't blame him,” Krzyzewski said. “If you get your nose broken, you're wearing a mask, you know.... It just wasn't a good day for him. I'm not blaming the loss on him.”
With Plumlee struggling, Krzyzewski had to turn to freshman Chase Jeter early and often. Jeter has been showing signs of progress late in the season and finished with seven points and six rebounds Thursday, but he, too, could not escape foul trouble. Jeter was whistled twice within 90 seconds of entering the game in the first half, putting the Blue Devils in a real bind—both of their big men were saddled with foul trouble with less than 10 minutes gone by.
Krzyzewski was then forced to call Sean Obi’s number, relying on the redshirt sophomore who had not played since Jan. 23 and had logged a grand total of 21 minutes on the season. Obi held his own in the six minutes he was on the floor against Notre Dame, but it was a desperate move for a Duke team that did not have many options left.
“A lot of it is his physical condition. He doesn't have great knees,” Krzyzewski said. “The thing is, we're so far into the season, we haven't played two bigs.”
Despite the unusual lineup combinations, the Blue Devils were surviving just fine for most of the game. Grayson Allen caught fire in the first half for 18 points and Notre Dame committed several uncharacteristic turnovers to help stake Duke to a 64-48 lead with 11 minutes to play—even as freshman Brandon Ingram joined the horde of Blue Devils in foul trouble, picking up his fourth at the 12:38 mark.
The Fighting Irish grew stronger as the game went on, connecting on 4-of-9 triples in the second half—including three huge ones from junior V.J. Beachem—to chip away at Duke’s lead. Notre Dame held a tired Blue Devil offense scoreless for nearly eight minutes as it ripped off 14 straight points and swung the momentum decidedly in its favor.
Plumlee picked up his fourth foul with 10 minutes left in regulation, and Duke lost all semblance of an inside game offensively. Instead, the Blue Devils looked to their perimeter scorers to knock down jump shots—but their worn-down legs would not oblige, and 16 of the next 18 shots missed the mark as the Fighting Irish continued to storm back.
“We’ve been in foul trouble all year, so we know how to play with four fouls,” Jeter said. “I think we did a good job of not trying to play hesitant but in terms of attacking the rim, we could have done a better job offensively.”
Duke missed three go-ahead shots from the outside in the final minute—in addition to freshman Luke Kennard’s last-second runner that clanked off the rim—and it was clear Notre Dame had the advantage heading into overtime.
The Fighting Irish looked like the more confident and poised team toward the end, even as Auguste played with four fouls himself. The Blue Devils now have the benefit of a full week off to prepare for the NCAA tournament, but playing on back-to-back days proved to be too tall of an order against a well-rested Notre Dame club.
“We might have been a little more tense, because there was quite a bit of time left,” Kennard said. “We had some major foul trouble, but the coaches still tell everybody ‘Four fouls, play your game, be tough.’ But we might have got a little tense here and there.”
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