Virginia Tech quickly exploited the Blue Devils’ weaknesses, jumping out to a 46-34 lead at halftime. Here are five observations from the first 20 minutes.
Virginia Tech has been one of the surprise teams in the ACC this season, and presents a unique challenge for Duke.
Duke is heading into its toughest ACC matchup thus far.
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski indicated that Blue Devil fans could see Johnson return to the floor soon.
The Blue Devils are starting to put it all together.
Hurt’s development as an all-around weapon has put him in ACC Player of the Year conversations, despite his missing out on both preseason All-ACC teams.
“Wednesday was a horrible day. It was an insurrection. It went to the very fabric of this great country where the symbol for our democracy is that Capitol,” Krzyzewski said in what was his first press conference since the riots. “And we allowed that symbol to be really just spit on and stepped on.”
Matthew Hurt and DJ Steward combined for 47 points, and in the end their scoring proved enough for Duke to avoid the upset despite a close first half.
It was a close first half, with the Blue Devils heading into the locker room holding a narrow 37-33 lead.
Make no mistake, it will still be a steep uphill battle for Wake Forest, but the odds of a blowout are low.
Duke will have its head coach back on the sideline Saturday.
The last time Duke took on Wake Forest, it suffered one of its worst losses of the 2019-20 season in Winston-Salem, N.C.
We don’t know what exactly Scheyer is starting off, but for a certain cohort of Duke fans, they hope it’s his position as Coach K’s successor.
While Boston College fired on all cylinders offensively in the early going, Duke relied on a balanced attack and some magic from Wendell Moore Jr. to win its second straight contest to begin ACC play.
With Coach K in quarantine, the Jon Scheyer-led squad struggled and trails the Eagles 43-35 at halftime. Here are five observations from the first 20 minutes.
Duke will enter its bout with Boston College as an 11.5 point favorite.
No matter how well Krzyzewski’s assistant coaches work on a Coach K-less Coach K Court, Duke will boast fresh legs, with the cancellations giving the Blue Devils more time to rest than they had anticipated.
The Blue Devils checked in at No. 21 this week, and have by far played the least amount of games in comparison to all of the other ranked teams.
Coach K also added some details as to how he's remained in communication with his assistant coaches and players while he's been in quarantine.
Duke's break will be extended a bit longer.
