Duke basketball handles Virginia Tech in 72-58 victory

A Virginia Tech 3-pointer had dropped against Duke, Cassell Coliseum was loud and Hokies coach Mike Young was full of intensity.

Young stood before the Tech bench, bent at the waist, hands on his knees as he urged on his team.

Seconds later, Duke’s Cameron Boozer knocked down a 3-pointer in front of Young. The coach dropped his head.

The No 4 Blue Devils weren’t always at their best Saturday, not in the second half, but came away with a gritty 72-58 victory to push their ACC record to 9-0 and notch their 20th win of the season.

Boozer again was too good, too tough. The freshman had 24 points to go with eight rebounds and five assists.

Isaiah Evans and Maliq Brown each had 11 points for the Blue Devils, who shot 52.5% from the field while limiting the Hokies to 42% and a season-low point total. Virginia Tech had one field goal in the last six-plus minutes.

“I think we’re learning our recipe to win,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer told the Duke Sports Network. “I love scoring, too, and we have one of the most efficient offenses in the country, but this is how your win in ACC play. You do it with your defense.”

The Blue Devils (20-1) had a 46-24 edge in points in the paint and 16 points off 12 offensive rebounds.

Duke led by as many as 16 points in the first half, forcing the Hokies into poor shots with some alert defense that limited Tech’s good looks. But Virginia Tech made its last five shots of the half, pulling within 40-31, and made things testy for the Blue Devils in the second half.

The Blue Devils had a 62-56 lead and the Hokies’ Neoklis Avdalas had a jumper to make it a four-point game, but missed.

Boozer was fouled on a driving shot and an attempted dunk that had the big man land awkwardly under the basket. He popped up and made both free throws for a 64-56 lead. Boozer then scored again after the Hokies misfired on a 3.

When Boozer drilled a 3, it was 69-56 with 1:30 left. The Hokies had not scored in more than five minutes. Many fans started heading out of Cassell into the cold.

The Hokies (16-7, 5-5 ACC) got 20 points from Amani Hansberry, a 3-point threat, and competed to the end. But Duke’s balance was too much to overcome as the Blue Devils now have won 31 of their last 32 games against ACC teams.

“This is a tough place to play,” Scheyer said. “Coming in here and getting this win is huge.”

Some observations from the game:

Pick your poison

Virginia Tech’s defensive strategy involved allowing Duke’s Patrick Ngongba or Brown the open outside shot and it didn’t always work.

On one Duke possession, Ngongba was positioned to the right of the key. The Hokes’ Christian Gurdak stood in the lane, as if daring him to shoot.

Ngongba did, and made the 3-pointer. Brown also hit a 3 in the opening half.

It’s a pick-your-poison kind of thing for opposing coaches, especially if the decision is made to double up on Boozer in the paint.

The Hokies did keep in touch with Evans and did a good job limiting his chances from the 3-point line. Evans had one 3-point shot in the first half, missing it, and could not find the range in the second half in finishing 0-4 in the game.

Virginia Tech is known for close games this season

Before Saturday, the Hokies had played four overtime games. Ten games had decided by six points or fewer, including their 71-65 win over Georgia Tech.

And at Cassell Coliseum? The Hokies were 12-1 at home — with a triple-overtime win over Virginia — and had won five of the last seven games against Duke on their home floor.

Any wonder why the Hokies wanted to keep it close against the Devils and take their chances?

Before the game, Scheyer sounded like a coach expecting another close one. He spoke to the Blue Devil Network about the importance of second-half toughness and focus, expressing the need for discipline down the stretch of the game. It took all that.

“We started the game really well and went on a run,” Boozer told the Duke network. “We knew it was going to be a fight. We were the tougher team at the end.”

Paucity of free throws

It’s hard to imagine an ACC game with four free throws taken in a half, but it happened Saturday.

Duke did not have a foul shot in the first half. One reason: the Devils were making a lot of shots. Another: the Hokes’ defense was not that aggressive as Virginia Tech was called for four fouls.

Virginia Tech had four free throws and made all four. Duke made nearly all of its 2-point shots in the half – 14 of 18 – while going 4 of 11 on 3’s in taking the nine-point lead.

The Blue Devils’ first free throw came with 13:49 left in the second half as Boozer finished off a 3-point play after a media timeout. Duke finished a season-low 5 of 7 at the line.

“It’s a different recipe of how we had to win,” Scheyer said. “It’s the least amount of free throws we’ve shot.”

Being a gamer

Sometimes, you have to gut it out.

Scheyer said Caleb Foster was “as sick as he can be” on Friday night and both Foster and Dame Sarr were listed as “probable” on the ACC availability report before the game.

Foster played 26 minutes Saturday and had seven rebounds plus four assists.

“He absolutely willed it for us,” Scheyer told the Duke network. “Just a big time, competitive spirit.”

Sarr, said to be a game-time decision on playing, was more limited, with eight minutes.

With Duke leading 66-56, Foster rebounded a 3-point miss by Tech’s Jailen Bedford. He then had the assist on Boozer’s made 3-pointer from the key for a 13-point lead.

“His toughness every night is a big part of our team,” Boozer said. “Obviously he wasn’t feeling well. To come out here shows the grit that he has.”

____