Duke closed out January the way the Blue Devils would have preferred to December.
That’s basketball, sports, heck, life, during the pandemic.
Everything is tougher, slower, accomplished with caution.
A month ago, Duke had played just five games, losing two of them.
During January, the Blue Devils lost three more, falling out of The Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time since 2016 and putting themselves in position to miss the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995.
But on Saturday, with coach Mike Krzyzewski using the eighth different starting lineup of the season, the Blue Devils looked better than they had all season.
Duke demolished Clemson, a team that had been ranked as high as No. 12 in the country this season, 79-53 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils took control of the game early, leading by 19 points at halftime, and kept the pressure on throughout.
“At the start of the second half,” Krzyzewski said, “we played like a veteran team, not allowing a big lead to determine how hard or how well we would play.”
It’s the first time this season Krzyzewski could say that.
While stumbling to five wins and five losses through the season’s first 10 games, the Blue Devils looked young. They faltered down the stretch while losing on the road to Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Louisville.
But something happened on Jan. 23 in that 70-65 loss to the Cardinals. The Blue Devils were just as good as Louisville until the final two minutes when missed open shots allowed the Cardinals to pull away for the win.
Duke relied on freshman Jalen Johnson, who started his first game since missing a month with a foot injury. The Blue Devils got their usually strong scoring production from sophomore Matthew Hurt, who’s averaging a team-best 18.7 points per game.
Freshman guard DJ Steward scored in double figures again. Sophomore Wendell Moore contributed points, rebounds and leadership.
After that tough loss at Louisville, Duke had to turn around and play Georgia Tech on Tuesday night. Rather than wallow in their losing streak, the Blue Devils led the majority of the game and made the plays late to secure a 75-68 win.
Again, Hurt, Johnson, Steward and Moore were major players.
On Saturday, those four were again in the starting lineup, but senior Jordan Goldwire replaced struggling freshman Jeremy Roach.
Great things happened as the Blue Devils (7-5, 5-3 ACC) won their second game in a row.
“We’re getting familiar with each other,” Krzyzewski said. “We’re just putting this team together where everyone is healthy in the last couple of weeks.”
Hurt is the only player to start all 12 Duke games this season. Steward has been with him in 10 of those games.
But now, Moore and Johnson have joined them in the last three.
Whether Roach or Goldwire starts is somewhat irrelevant as they are both part of Duke’s backcourt rotation. Roach contributed 12 points and three assists off the bench against Clemson. Goldwire produced four points but had five assists and two steals while playing 34 turnover-free minutes.
Duke, at long last, has a solid core of players and the results are noticeably better.
“Our work ethic has been crazy in practice, so it’s not very surprising that we’re finally coming along and we’re playing together well,” Steward said. “We’re just going to keep playing hard, keep practicing hard, just doing what we do, and wins are going to come.”
In the last two games, Duke added another important cog with 7-0 freshman center Mark Williams making more positive contributions. Williams had 11 points, five rebounds and two blocked shots against Clemson. That’s after he produced six points and six rebounds against Georgia Tech.
With Duke starting 6-9 players Johnson and Hurt in the post, Williams provides a true post look when he’s on the court.
“If you just get into the lane, just throw the ball up, and he’ll catch it and dunk it,” Steward said. “He’s an easy target, so it’s really good for us guards.”
Six Duke players played 20 or more minutes against Clemson — the starting five plus Roach. Williams and junior small forward Joey Baker each played 14.
That looks to be a solid group of eight players Krzyzewski and his staff will primarily use as the Blue Devils look to rack up wins and make the NCAA tournament.
Would he have rather had this group in this position in the days following Christmas? Of course. But that’s not the way things are going this season.
We’ll see if things continue as they are in the days ahead for Duke.
