Duke 68, Georgia Tech 51

Monday, Georgia Tech coach Brian Gregory offered the analysis that in his three losses to Duke, a five- or six-minute lapse in each game had done in the Yellow Jackets.

That being the case, Gregory said, it would be incumbent upon the Jackets Tuesday night against the Blue Devils to avoid such a trap.

Before a sellout crowd at McCamish Pavilion, however, Tech was resigned to repeat its fate. The Blue Devils tore into the Jackets early, their aggressive play and efficient shot-making providing them enough of a margin to last the entire way. Duke took the late-night contest by a 68-51 score.

Duke (21-5 overall, 10-3 ACC) continued its mastery of the Jackets, winning its seventh in a row in the series and 31st of the past 34.

Duke took a lead of 12-3 as the Jackets were staggered by Duke’s aggressive defensive play. The Jackets leveled off and cut the lead to 18-12 on an alley-oop dunk by center Daniel Miller, but Duke elevated again. The Blue Devils took off on an 11-2 run, taking advantage of Tech turnovers and misses to score repeatedly in transition.

Duke led 29-14 with 7:29 to go and never led by less than 12 the rest of the way.

Against the Duke pressure, (13-13, 4-9) had trouble inbounding the ball and executing simple handoffs. Open looks at the basket were rare. Duke’s quickness at every position created issues at both ends of the floor, and the Blue Devils hammered the Jackets from the perimeter.