Game Preview: Duke at Georgia Tech

Duke is 20-7 all-time versus Miami, which includes an 8-5 mark in road games (6-4 at the Watsco Center)…The Blue Devils won last year's meeting at Cameron Indoor, 87-57, behind 19 points from both RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish…In the last trip to Coral Gables, Duke pulled out an 83-75 win on Jan. 15, 2018, rallying from down 13 in the second half as Gary Trent Jr. dropped a game-high 30 points on 6-of-9 from three-point range…The teams have split the last 10 games in the series.

Wednesday’s game is the 97th meeting between Duke and Georgia Tech, with the Blue Devils leading 73-23. In Atlanta, Duke leads the series 28-15, including a 24-13 mark at McCamish Pavilion. The Blue Devils’ 12-game winning streak in the series is the team’s longest active streak against ACC opponents. Duke has won four consecutive road games in the series, having not lost on the road at GT since Jan. 9, 2010 (71-67). The Blue Devils took last year’s meeting at Cameron Indoor, 66-53, behind 24 points from RJ Barrett.

The Opponent
Georgia Tech is 7-7 overall and 2-2 in ACC play after its 96- 83 victory at North Carolina on Saturday behind 25 points and eight assists from Jose Alvarado. The Yellow Jackets have won three of their last five since Alvarado returned from an ankle injury. The balanced GT squad has nine players averaging 16.0+ minutes and six averaging 6.0+ points per game. Michael Devoe’s 16.9 points per game rank fifth in the ACC, while Moses Wright is second in the league in field goal percentage (.572).  Jose Alvarado leads the team in assists at 4.4 per game. The leading rebounder is Moses Wright with 7.8, followed closely by James Banks III with 7.1. 

Georgia Tech is 30th in the country in blocked shots.

Duke
The Blue Devils will be without freshman starter Wendell Moore Jr. who underwent successful surgery on Monday to repair a broken fourth metacarpal in his right hand. He is out indefinitely, but expected to return this season. Moore, who sustained the injury late in the game at Miami on Saturday night, had played in all 14 games, with five starts. The Charlotte, N.C., native was averaging 7.4 points and 3.9 rebounds in 22.2 minutes per game.

Duke enters the game at Georgia Tech on a 7 game winning streak. The Blue Devils come in at 13-1 and 3 & 0 in the ACC. The Blue Devils are 7th in blocked shots in the nation, 34th in steals and 76th in rebounding.

The Blue Devils have relied heavily on their defense so far this season and are 6th in the nation in blocked shots and 36th in steals.

• Duke has held five consecutive opponents to less than 65 points, and two of the last three have scored 50 or less.

• The Blue Devils are allowing just 60.9 points over their seven-game winning streak and the 59.3 points allowed since December 1st are 23rd-fewest in the nation.

• Duke is ranked No. 3 in KenPom’s defensive efficiency, with top-20 ranks in both defensive steal percentage (12.6; 19th) and blocked shots percentage (15.5; 16th) -- one of six teams nationally in the top 20 for both.

• Duke’s 75-50 win over Brown and the 88-49 BC win marked the first time since the 2010-11 season that consecutive Duke foes scored 50 or less -- 83-48 vs. Bradley (Dec. 8) and 84-47 vs. Saint Louis (Dec. 11).

Offensively they are 4th in the nation in points per game, top 40 in assists, and 25th in offensive rebounding. 

• Duke enters the Georgia Tech game leading the nation with a scoring margin of +21.7, including wins in its last four games by an average of 31.5 points.

• Eleven of Duke’s 13 wins are by 11+ points.

• The 39-point margin in the BC win (88-49) was Duke’s largest in an ACC game since beating Georgia Tech, 110-57, on Jan. 3, 2017 and marked the 23rd time in history Duke won an ACC game by 39+ points.

Vernon Carey Jr. leads the Blue Devils in both scoring and rebounding, nearly averaging a double-double with 18.4 points per game and 9 rebounds. Carey also leads the team in blocks at 2.2 per game. Tre Jones leads the Blue Devils in assists at 7.2 per game, he also averages 14.2 points and a team leading 2 steals per game. Cassius Stanley and Matthew Hurt round out the double figure scorers for the Blue Devils with 11 and 11.6 points per game respectively.

Synopsis
The Blue Devils defensively need to protect the paint as Georgia Tech has been successful when they've been able to dominate in paint points. Against UNC the Yellow Jackets had a 58-34 advantage in points in the paint. If the Blue Devils can stay out of interior foul trouble and lull the Georgia Tech guards into taking bad shots then Duke should have the advantage. While Duke does match up well against the  Yellow Jackets size wise, interior depth is not a strength for the Blue Devils. Look for Georgia Tech to go inside early and often to put pressure on Vernon Carey Jr.