Ga. Tech scores on recruiting trail, not against Duke

The glum look on Lewis Clinch’s face explained Georgia Tech’s night plainly.

“We were right there,” Clinch said. “We just keep letting things slip away.”

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Pouya Dianat/pdianat@ajc.com

Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt was not pleased to see his Yellow Jackets lose a third straight ACC game.

BY THE NUMBERS

• Tech-Duke box score

Wednesday night, it was Duke’s turn to benefit from Tech’s largesse. The Jackets thwarted themselves with turnovers, impatient play and shoddy free-throw shooting, helping the No. 3 Devils leave Alexander Memorial Coliseum with a 70-56 victory.

In opening ACC play with three consecutive losses, Tech made 16 of 33 free throws in losing to Virginia in overtime, gave up a 10-point second-half lead in its loss to Maryland and made seven of 19 free throws against Duke. Turning the ball over 18 times, twice as many as the Devils, didn’t help, either.

“We had our chances,” coach Paul Hewitt said. “We didn’t take advantage of them.”

Playing with sharpness and energy, Tech opened up leads of as many as eight points in the first half. But after taking a 25-17 edge, the Devils scored the next 13 points. Tech never led again, and Duke slowly pulled away in the second half.

The Jackets, 9-7 overall and 0-3 in the ACC, have lost 24 of their past 26 games against Duke (15-1, 3-0). It’s Tech’s second consecutive 0-3 start in league play.

It was an unsatisfying main act that was preceded by South Atlanta High School standout Derrick Favors’ nationally televised commitment to enroll at Tech. Before the game, news rippled throughout the arena. As Tech left the floor after warm-ups, Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” played over the loudspeakers.

On top of the turnovers and free-throw shooting, the Jackets rushed their offense in the second half. The Devils pressured Tech’s guards to deny passes to forward Gani Lawal, then double-teamed him when he received the ball. The Jackets had several possessions in which the first or second player to touch the ball took shots without giving much of a look into the post.

Lawal, whom Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski raved about post-game as “a big-time player and competitor,” took only two shots after halftime.

Said Hewitt, “Second half, we just weren’t as patient as we needed to be to get the ball inside.”

Tech will have two days of practice before heading to Raleigh to play N.C. State on Saturday.

Said Clinch, “We’ve just got to pick it up.”