Pressure busts pipes, and that’s exactly what it did last Saturday when the Blue Devils fell to the to Tar Heels in Coach K’s final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Down the stretch of Thursday’s ACC Tournament quarterfinal matchup against Syracuse, Duke found themselves in a similar situation, down one point (78-79) after a 8-2 run by the Orange. How the Blue Devils responded would be season defining. Would they fold again, bringing into question the validity of their entire season, or would they respond how a team with Final Four aspirations should in March?
The Blue Devils did the latter, closing the game on a 10-0 run and defeating Syracuse 88-79. But don’t get it twisted, Saturday’s loss was definitely in the back of all of their minds.
“Obviously versus North Carolina, we got that feeling of defeat – knowing there’s not a second chance to play in Cameron again,” Mark Williams said when I asked him what was going through his mind when Syracuse took the lead late. “So I think for me personally that’s what was going through my mind. We lose that game, we’re done, like we’re not playing in the ACC tournament again. So honestly, that was probably the biggest thing, just surviving and advancing.”
“We had to learn from that game, but at the same time, we had to move on,” Mark continued. We can’t really harp on that game too much, because then you’re playing mind games with yourself or thinking, what if this happens? What if that happens? I think you had to just go out there, play your game, be confident, go out there and win the game, and that’s what we did.”
The Blue Devils needed a game like this – a gritty contest where their resolve was tested and they had to gut out a win against a team with nothing to lose. They needed a win to wash the nasty taste of that March 5th loss to North Carolina out of their mouths. With that gone, maybe they can go on the type of run that will make everyone (except Carolina fans) forget that game even happened.
Duke will play in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament on Friday at 7 p.m. on ESPN vs. Miami.
Notes
- Junior Wendell Moore Jr., scored a career-high 26 points with eight assists (one turnover) and 9-of-20 shooting.
- Moore’s previous career high was 25 points on two occasions, the last time coming on 1/6/21 vs. Boston College. His previous season high of 23 points came vs. Lafayette on 11/9/21.
- Moore is averaging 6.5 assists over his last four games and 5.7 assists over his last nine.
- Sophomore Mark Williams recorded his ninth double-double this season (11th career) with 15 points and 16 rebounds and a career-high four assists on 7-of-11 shooting. All 15 of his points and eight rebounds came in the second half.
- In three career ACC Tournament games, Williams is 22-of-32 (.688) from the field and averaging 17.0 and 12.0 rebounds.
- Freshman Paolo Banchero recorded his ninth double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, along with seven assists and a career-high five steals.
- Banchero’s five steals tie seven other Blue Devils for the second most steals in an ACC Tournament game. Christian Laettner’s seven steals are Duke’s single-game ACCT record (vs. UNC, 3/15/92).
- Sophomore Jeremy Roach hit a career-best five three-points on 10 attempts and finished with a season-high 19 points. Of Roach’s 19 points, 16 came in the second half.
- Roach’s five threes stand as the fourth most threes by a Blue Devil in an ACC Tournament game — 13 other Blue Devils also had five in the ACCT — last by Grayson Allen vs. Notre Dame (3/8/18).
- Roach has reached double figures in points five times over the last seven games – had just six double-digit efforts over the first 25 games.
- Over the last five games, Roach is a combined 22-of-38 (.579) from the field and 11-of-22 (.500) from three-point range.
- Freshman Trevor Keels was the fifth Blue Devil in double figures with 14 points. Duke is now 19-2 this season when Keels scores in double figures.