No. 20 Virginia Tech (10-2, 4-1) never trailed in its third win of the season over a ranked opponent, beating No. 19 Duke (5-3, 3-1) 74-67 in Cassell Coliseum on Tuesday night.
“I’ve got a pretty good team, let’s not beat around the bush,” Head Coach Mike Young said. “I think we have a chance to be really good, but we’re not really good right now. I don’t think it’s anything more complicated than that.”
This is the Hokies’ fourth win in Blacksburg over the Blue Devils in five years, but the first in Young’s tenure. Tech beat Duke at home in each of Buzz Williams’ final three years at the helm of the program.
“I feel like both teams are talented, but we’re getting close to it. We’re there,” redshirt-sophomore Tyrece Radford said.
The Hokies dominated the first half, making over 60% of their shots from the floor and leading 46-34 at the break. Over half of Tech’s points came in the paint in the first twenty minutes as they rolled out to an early lead.
“I thought the ball really moved and we had a nice level of inside-to-outside, Cone got two big threes down, we got a couple of second shots and I thought we moved really well in transition,” Young said. “Duke basketball has hung its hat on that defensive end for quite some time, so that was certainly a pleasure to watch.”
Duke stormed back early in the second half, outscoring Tech 21-10 over the first seven minutes of the frame. The Blue Devils made eight of their first 12 shots after halftime, including eight straight points from ACC leading-scorer Matthew Hurt to cut the Hokies’ lead to one.
“I didn’t want to call timeout when Duke took off on us in the second half, and part of that was by design,” Young said. “I wanted to see us figure it out and fight through it.”
The Tech defense locked down after that, allowing the Blue Devils to score just nine points in the next 13 minutes of game time. Duke made just four of its final 22 shots to end the game, including the last-second three-pointer when the game was already decided.
“I have a very good defensive team,” Young said. “We have guys that can guard you that are really smart players. They’re not afraid to sit in their stance and guard you.”
Tech was led in the first half by Radford, who posted his first double-double of the season. The Louisiana native dropped in 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds in the first frame and finished with 18 and 12, both leading the team.
“My energy was different, and I just left everything on the court tonight,” Radford said. “I kept my team motivated and kept pushing them, telling them to play to win and don’t play not to lose.”
In the second half, it was the Keve Aluma show. After Duke had cut the Hokies’ lead to just 54-52, Aluma scored 11 of Tech’s next 14 points to stretch the lead back to nine. Tech’s leading scorer on the year finished with 13 second-half points to help the Hokies finally pull away. He finished with 17 points and seven rebounds, and also came away with a critical block late in the game.
“I covet a player that you can throw the ball to in the post and expect something positive to happen,” Young said. “It was just enormous. It’s starting to tighten up and Duke locks in a bit more defensively and on the perimeter. To be able to put that thing down there to that big rascal and let him do his thing is a real luxury.”
Jalen Cone had another double-digit scoring night, finishing with 14 points. He knocked down three of his five shots from long range and continued to build his resume to be the ACC’s Sixth Man of the Year.
“He’s so quick and so small, he can always get his shot off. When he’s up, it’s up there because he jumps so high off of the ground,” Radford said. “I’m not sure how I would guard him either.”
Despite the loss, Duke got great performances from its stars once again. Hurt had a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, exceeding his averages on the season, which both rank in the top-five in the conference.
The Blue Devils’ freshman backcourt also had a big night as Roach and D.J. Steward combined for 36 points. Outside of those three players in double-digits, the rest of the Duke lineup combined for just 11 points.
The Hokies are now the first team in the ACC with four conference wins, and their next two opponents are a combined 1-8 in league-play. Tech’s resume continues to grow in Young’s second year with the program.
“We have the potential to make a run for [a championship],” Radford said. “We just have to make sure we stay level-headed and don’t get a big head or anything. We just have to stay humble.”
After playing two games in three days, Tech gets a few days off to prepare for a trip to Winston-Salem to play Wake Forest. Then, the Hokies will welcome Boston College to Blacksburg one week from Wednesday.
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Love Mike Young. But I wonder what he’s gonna do when he runs out of players from Wofford.
The Mike Youngism “it’s nice to have that big rascal “.
Duke basketball has become a prep team for the NBA. Coach K has had to concede to the fact that the players he brings into the program now (for the most part) only have NBA aspirations. One and gone. The best way for his guys to be noticed is to focus on the offensive side of the ball. Defense used to be Coach K’s forte but he can’t get his guys to play it the way he would like. He had some great defensive teams in the 90’s. Defense is an afterthought in the NBA and his players these days know it.
I remember how disappointed I was when Henry Coleman decided to go to Duke. Who’s disappointed now…
Aluma needs to improve defensively, not in the low post so much, but definitely on switching at the top of the key. He needs to flash out to the guard and switch back to cover the big man as he curls down into the post!
The first half shows how good they can be, just need to learn how to sustain that level of execution. Great win, but need to take care of business against the teams they are favored to beat (those guys are on scholarship as well).
A win over Coach Ratface is always satisfying, whatever the talent level at Dook. Great win, guys!
GO HOKIES!
Who am I to argue with Coach K!
Just one 3-pt shot away from being undefeated in ACC play. Still too early to feel confident about NCAA but not too early to assume at least NIT. Hard to believe Aluma didn’t have any higher level offers. He’s an ACC level player.
More Cattoor/Cone at guards. That’s two guys they have come out on. Both got more minutes than Bede. I noticed that Bede can’t drive by anyone and get to the basket. Even when he’s got big men on him they are able to stay in front of him. He often gets stuck in the lane, has to pivot to pass out. But, still good to have his passing and ball handling. Just hard to be great at point when they don’t have to respect you as a scoring threat.
Mutts is a TO problem at times, but he makes nice interior passes and can move with the ball and occasionally hit a 3. If we can hold serve with our next two weak opponents we will be in a nice position roughly half-way through the season.
Mutts does dirty work and a good passer overall for a big guy. He may try to force a couple but he also makes some nice passes for easy ones too. Mainly we need a guy with toughness like that dude. He scraps and gets loose balls and tough rebounds. He’s a big addition and a big reason we don’t have to rely so much on the 3 any more
Exactly, Mutts is critical to our success (2nd only to Aluma I think).
I think that Bede CAN drive by some guys, especially big guys, but for whatever reason (lacking confidence in his finish?) he doesn’t try it much.
Love this coach
The amazing Mike Young! How do you like him now?
A lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
this game was a great example of teamwork and defense winning over individual talent
Coach K have anything to say worth repeating?
He said “that kid Radford” was the best player on the floor tonight.