Georgia Tech pushes No. 2 Duke before losing

James Banks of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets dunks the ball over Zion Williamson of the Duke Blue Devils during their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 26, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Credit: Streeter Lecka

Credit: Streeter Lecka

James Banks of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets dunks the ball over Zion Williamson of the Duke Blue Devils during their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 26, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

Georgia Tech put all of itself on display Saturday afternoon against No. 2 Duke. The part that gives teams problems with its zone while groping around for points and also the part that falls apart on offense and amasses bountiful piles of turnovers.

After the better half generated an early second-half lead over the Blue Devils and raised hopes for the biggest win in coach Josh Pastner’s three-year tenure, the ham-handed half took control and bungled the upset bid. The end result was a 66-53 loss for Tech (11-9, 3-4 ACC). Duke (17-2, 6-1) has won 12 in a row over the Jackets – its longest active win streak over any ACC opponent – and has defeated Tech 10 times in a row inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“We had the game, and I think we gave it away,” guard Jose Alvarado said.

Taking advantage of a Duke team that wasn’t its dominant self early on – coach Mike Krzyzewski said his team “didn’t have fresh faces,” a most malicious indictment – the Jackets led 29-27 at the half and then fired off a 6-0 run to start the second half. The capper was a two-handed fast-break layup by forward Evan Cole in which he dribbled upcourt and, almost surprised by the lack of resistance, forayed on to the basket.

Down 35-27, Krzyzewski burned a timeout.

“You come in here and you punch a great team like that in the mouth, and they call timeout quickly like that. It’s just a great feeling,” guard Michael Devoe said.

The Jackets were limiting their turnovers, which in turn was preventing Duke’s fearsome collection of future first-round draft picks (notably Zion Williamson) from scoring in transition, and also keeping them off the offensive glass. Tech wasn’t overwhelming on offense, but was finding baskets where it could, with forward Abdoulaye Gueye hitting on his jump hook, Devoe taking forward R.J. Barrett – a likely top-three draft pick and also Devoe’s prep-school teammate – to the basket and Cole scoring on offensive rebounds.

Center James Banks and Gueye were in foul trouble and the free-throw disparity was considerable, but otherwise things were going pretty well and continued so, to a 38-31 lead on a Gueye layup with 15:43 to play.

Tech led 38-31 on a Gueye layup with 15:43 to go.

And then over the next eight possessions, a stretch of about three minutes, the Jackets failed to score, giving away five possessions with turnovers and missing four shots from the field. Two were balls thrown over the heads of teammates in transition, perhaps unwise attempts for home-run plays.

Banks ended the drought with one of his two baskets in the game – he finished with five points and two rebounds and played only 20 minutes. But by that point, Duke led 44-40, the sellout crowd was at full throat and the Blue Devils were sporting the freshest of faces.

“We played their game that they wanted us to play, like speed us up, and we have to be calm,” Devoe said.

Tech continued to flail on offense from there, playing like the team that iranks last in the ACC in turnovers and can go stone cold on offense. After cutting the lead to 44-40, the Jackets scored on two of their next nine possessions, with multiple misses in the post by Gueye and Banks.

Tech has experienced similar calamities this season, notably a neutral-site loss to St. John’s in which it led by 16 with 15 minutes to play and a three-point home loss to Virginia Tech in which the Jackets didn’t score in their final six possessions, three kiboshed by turnovers. Both teams, as well as Duke, are well on their way to the NCAA tournament.

Pastner sees them as the growing pains of a young team. Alvarado, a sophomore, was typically fearless, with seven points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Devoe, a freshman, had 11 points, four steals and three rebounds, but both had five turnovers each. The Jackets had 19 in all, six more than Duke. It’s who they are. Jackets finished the game 316th nationally in turnover percentage (KenPom).

“They’re going to make some mistakes, and they’re going to learn from it and keep getting better,” Pastner said of Devoe and Alvarado. “We’ve got the rest of the year and two full years with both guys together. You know how I feel about those guys. They’re going to be really, really good together.”

Tech held Duke to its season scoring low, the third ACC opponent to fall to that fate against the Jackets in seven games. The Blue Devils also shot 2-for-21 from 3-point range, 9.5 percent. It’s the worst that they have shot from 3 in a game since the 2009-10 season. The Jackets, they of the long-limbed shot challengers, entered the game fifth nationally in 3-point defense (27.4 percent).

“Josh had his team ready to play us,” Krzyzewski said. “Their zone, obviously, is a different type of zone – 1-3-1 to 2-2-1 – their kids are very active in it and were ready to play.”

But for the turnovers.

“If we defend and value the ball, we give ourselves a chance for success,” Pastner said. “(On Saturday), we defended. We just didn’t value the ball.”