Krzyzewski gives Blue Devils the spark they needed

In the midst of a close game at the tail-end of three games in six days, the Blue Devils will take motivation wherever they can get it.

As is so often the case, it came from head coach Mike Krzyzewski, but this time in a different way.

Krzyzewski removed his suit jacket midway through the second half of Duke’s 79-71 win against Wake Forest Tuesday night, firing up his tired squad. The Blue Devils outscored the Demon Deacons 23-15 from that point on, getting themselves across the finish line in a back-and-forth game.

“It was so hot in there. It wasn’t for the officials. I’m not in bad shape at this time, so I wanted to show that. I’m not sure if anyone looked. You don’t look at 69-year-old people,” Krzyzewski joked. “It was more to show our team a sign, and then they gutted it out. It was very good.”

With 12:31 left, Duke trailed the Demon Deacons by three—its largest deficit of the night. Freshman swingman Brandon Ingram stepped up to deliver a momentum-shifting block on a lay-up attempt by Wake Forest sophomore Rondale Watson. On the next trip down the floor, Ingram—who had shot just 5-of-16 from the floor up to that point—sunk a 3-pointer from well beyond the arc to tie the game at 56 and send the crowd into a frenzy.

Evidently, the Cameron Crazies were not the only ones fired up by the Kinston, N.C., native’s game-changing efforts. Moments before the under-12 minute media timeout, Krzyzewski removed his jacket, hoping his team would take notice. Multiple players cited the blazer strip as a source of energy down the stretch as Wake Forest tried to stay within striking distance.

“That fires me up,” graduate student Marshall Plumlee said. “When Coach is fired up, it fires you up. You’re either going to be excited to play a game, or Coach is going to drag it out of you one way or another. He has a great way of getting through to us and relating to us. I thought our guys showed some maturity by responding to Coach K’s energy tonight.”

Krzyzewski’s passion ignited a chain reaction from his team. After an exchange of misses from both sides immediately following the media timeout, Plumlee rose up through traffic deep in the paint to pull down a heavily contested offensive rebound—one of his seven offensive boards and 17 total rebounds on the night. The Warsaw, Ind., native was fouled on his way back up to the rim.

The big man has been a major voice and source of leadership for the younger Blue Devils throughout the season, particularly since senior Amile Jefferson has been sidelined with a right foot injury. Although Plumlee could not convert on either free throw, his effort and intensity—which resulted in his sixth double-double of the season—played off of Krzyzewski’s message to his team and continued to keep his teammates energized.

“Marshall was huge bringing energy and his 17 boards, and really his emotion that he showed out there got the whole team fired up,” sophomore Grayson Allen said. “He said to us in the locker room, ‘I only have two games left in Cameron. We need to go out and fight.’ And we did that, and so for him to step up like that was huge.”

After the empty possession on the two missed free throws, Allen connected on a deep 3-pointer on the next trip down the court and regained the lead for Duke. The Blue Devils never looked back from there, with multiple players stepping up their intensity and level of play in the final minutes.

Freshman Derryck Thornton found a way to run the floor with composure and authority the rest of the way. The Chatsworth, Calif., native responded to Wake Forest freshman Bryant Crawford’s quick retaliatory layup with one of his own, stifling a comeback attempt and keeping Duke firmly ahead. Thornton secured all six of his points and two of his four assists in the final 8:25 and committed just one turnover in the entire contest, displaying a maturity in commanding the floor that was not apparent earlier in the season.

“[Thornton] made some tough plays in those last 12 minutes,” Krzyzewski said. “He’s 18 years old. I think he’s done a really good job for us, and he’s gotten better and better. The guys on the team have confidence in him and respect him.”

Tuesday’s contest served as a reminder of what has worked for the Blue Devils in their greatest moments of the season thus far—channeling resiliency in the face of adversity and playing with energy in the face of exhaustion. Duke will have to continue implementing that approach as it closes out the regular season against rival No. 8 North Carolina.

Once again, the Blue Devils will need to find inspiration wherever they can get it, even if it is as simple as a garment change.