Instead Of Going Big With Theo John, Mark Williams Duke Went Small With Paolo Banchero, AJ Griffin , Trevor Keels , Wendell Moore Jr.,Jeremy Roach! Result? A 76-65 Win Over Virginia Tech

Instead of going big with Theo John , Mark Williams Duke went small with Paolo Banchero , AJ Griffin, Trevor Keels, Wendell Moore Jr. , Jeremy Roach!

When?

In the second half!

Result?

A 76-65 win over Virginia Tech as Duke opened league play in Durham on Wednesday night!

Before they went small though, Duke played big!

Though, didn’t work!

Why?

Because Virginia Tech opened up an eight point lead in the second half before Mike Krzyzewski replaced Mark Williams with AJ Griffin.

“according to Stephen Wiseman’s tweet on Twitter”

Though, once Duke went small they got their offense going!

How?

Paolo Banchero scored 23 points in all while he scored 17 points n that dominant second half, fueled by the move to a smaller lineup around the versatile 6-foot-10 forward. That helped Duke (11-1, 1-0 ACC) erase an eight-point deficit early in the half while slowing Virginia Tech's Keve Aluma after his big first-half performance.

Wendell Moore Jr., added 18 points for Duke, which has won four straight.

Paolo Banchero sparked the go-ahead push from a 42-36 deficit, scoring on a drive, then sticking back his own miss and following with a step-back three-pointer — all against Aluma. Banchero followed that by getting airborne and then zipping a pass to a cutting Trevor Keels for a layup and a 43-42 lead at the 14:31 mark.

The lead grew from there, with Palo Banchero scoring on an up-and-under move against Aluma and then putting in his own miss to cap a 27-7 run that pushed Duke to a 63-49 advantage with 7:35 to go.

It was a dominant stretch from Duke's star freshman, who had been thoroughly outplayed by the 6-9 redshirt senior in the opening half.

Virginia Tech (8-5, 0-2) thrice closed to within seven in the final five and a-half minutes, and had a terrific opportunity to draw even closer when Aluma got a wide-open corner three down 72-65. But he couldn't connect, and then Keels followed with two free throws and a transition layup off a steal to all but seal this one.

Keve Aluma had 17 points before halftime to help the Hokies lead 36-32 at the break, but things were tougher the rest of the way as he finished with 25 points to go with 10 rebounds.

Justyn Mutts added 20 points for the Hokies, who shot 43 percent for the game and went just 1 of 9 on three-pointers after halftime.

“according to an article on goduke.com”

Mike Krzyzewski had this to say about Duke’s win over Virginia Tech to David Shumate Duke’s radio announcer after Duke’s 76-65 win over Virginia Tech!

They’re a really good team and a veteran team but the at start of the second half we went small and Paolo had a great second half. There was five minutes of vintage Duke Basketball.

Duke freshman Trevor Keels had this to say to David Shumate after Duke’s 76-65 win over Virginia Tech!

ACC is a very different style -very physical and I loved it . Our defensive intensity was great we knew it would be a fight . I know when I play defense it fires up the other guys on the floor- just a fun game .”

Duke is now on Christmas break before returning to Duke, returning to campus to prepare for their first two Atlantic Coast Conference games on the road this season at Clemson on Wednesday December 29, 2021 at Notre Dame on Saturday January 1st, 2021.

Before Christmas Clemson like Duke won their game on Wednesday as they defeated Virginia by a score of 67-50 in Charlottesville Virginia!

In Clemson’s 67-50 win over Virginia Clemson’s defense held Virginia (7-5, 1-1 ACC) to just one field goal over a 16-minute stretch in the second half to pull away for a 67-50 road conference win on Wednesday night at John Paul Jones Arena. Hunter Tyson continued his strong play for the Tigers (9-4, 1-1 ACC), putting up 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting.

David Collins (11 points, 11 rebounds) and P.J. Hall (11 points) also scored in double-figures, while Naz Bohannon and Al-Amir Dawes each scored eight. Clemson knocked down eight three-pointers, and outrebounded the Cavaliers, 35-26. Virginia attempted just 41 field goals, shooting 36.6 percent on the night. 

Clemson surrendered just seven turnovers on the night, while capitalizing on 14 Virginia turnovers to the tune of 24 points. In the process, Clemson snapped an 11-game losing skid to the Cavaliers, and won in Charlottesville for the first time since 2008. 

The teams traded buckets for much of the early going before three consecutive buckets from Bohannon opened up a five-point lead for the Tigers with 7:06 to play in the first half. Back-to-back field goals from PJ Hall extended the lead to 31-21, and the Tigers went into the break with a 35-27 advantage. 

Virginia made a quick 7-0 run in the first three minutes of the second half to pull within two at 37-35 on a Kihei Clark three-pointer with 17:34 to play. The Cavaliers would not register another field goal until the 6:31 mark, an 11:03 field goal drought. During that time, Clemson went on an 19-5 run, during which six different Tigers registered field goals. 

Hunter Tyson extended the lead to 17 with 4:46 to play, and Clemson would cruise to the 17-point win. 

“according to an article on clemsontigers.com”

Before Christmas break Notre Dame played Texas A&M Corpus Christi in South Bend Indiana on Wednesday December 22, 2021!

Notre Dame won 83-73 as they outscored Texas A&M Corpus Christi (10-3) 83-73 to finish up with a victory before the Christmas break. The Irish were led by 21 points from senior Dane Goodwin while four other Irish players reached double figures in scoring.

Texas A&M Corpus Christi connected on three of their first five shots to earn a 10-5 lead at the first media timeout. The lead grew to 17-8 with 13 minutes left as the Islanders out-rebounded the Irish 7-2 early and connected on six of their first 11 shots while the Irish opened just 4-for-14 from the field. 

Notre Dame responded with a 7-0 run, but with about nine minutes left in the first half, a scuffle broke out after an Irish offensive rebound attempt. After a prolonged break to look at the replay the game officials assigned a flagrant level one foul to Goodwin, a technical foul for after-whistle contact to Nate Laszewski and a similar technical foul to Corpus Christi’s Terrion Murdix. 

Notre Dame kept the pressure on the Islanders and a Dane Goodwin three with five minutes remaining gave Notre Dame their first lead of the game at 28-26. 

Now the home team started to put together a string of stops on the defensive end and the run grew to 15-3 in favor of the Irish. Laszewski highlighted the run with a transition pull up three at the top of the key to give Notre Dame a 37-29 lead. 

Texas A&M Corpus Christi was able cut in the lead a bit before the break and Notre Dame carried a 42-37 lead into halftime. 

Texas A& M Corpus Christi would not go quietly in the second half. Notre Dame pushed the lead back to eight, but Corpus Christi came back to hit seven consecutive field goals to cut the Irish lead in half. Goodwin connected on another three to provide the Irish a 57-53 lead with 12:49 left. 

Again, the Islanders came right back and briefly took a 58-57 lead, but Wesley came right back to earn a driving layup to give the lead back to the home team. 

Yet another Dane Goodwin three put the Irish up 64-60 and after a defensive stop, Cormac Ryan converted a corner three pointer and Notre Dame finally assumed control of the game. Ryan would tack on another big three pointer to put the Irish up 10 points while the Irish defense held the Islanders without a field goal for over three minutes. 

Before Duke plays Notre Dame is going to play on the road at Pittsburgh on Tuesday December 28, 2021

Tip off for the Duke, Clemson game on Wednesday December 29, 2021 is set for 2:00pm from Littlejohn Coliseuim!

Why?

Because Clemson’s team on the gridiron takes on Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl in Orlando Florida at 5:45pm!

Duke’s game at Littlejohn Coliseuim verses Clemson is going to be televised on ACC Network!

Tip off for Duke’s at Purcell Pavillon verses Notre Dame is set for 6:00pm!

The game is going to be televised on ACC Network!