The Duke basketball team bounced back in dominating fashion with a wire-to-wire victory against the Virginia Tech Hokies on Saturday evening.
It’s safe to say Mike Krzyzewski got after his team in practice on Thursday and Friday as Duke came out of the locker room with its hair on fire on Saturday night against Virginia Tech.
Tre Jones hit two 3-pointers to start the ball game, and the Blue Devils never looked back, routing Virginia Tech 88-64 to get back in the win column.
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Jones finished with 14 points, three rebounds, four assists, and a block, but it was Cassius Stanley and his five 3-pointers that led Duke with 21 points.
The freshman was 7-of-12 from the field and 5-of-7 from the 3-point line in addition to his seven rebounds and two blocks.
Vernon Carey Jr. fell one rebound shy of another double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds on 4-of-8 shooting and more importantly 7-of-9 from the free throw line, much improved from his struggles on Wednesday night.
Matthew Hurt came off the bench and played one of his better games in his freshman season with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Duke shot 43.5 percent from the field (27-of-62) and 42.3 percent from 3-point range (11-of-26) while bouncing back from the free throw line at 74.2 percent (23-of-31).
Mike Krzyzewski played 12 players on Saturday evening, and the only three that did not score were Mike Buckmire, Javin DeLaurier, and Joey Baker, but only four reached double-figures.
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The interesting part of the game was Jack White not playing until there were nine and a half minutes left to go in the second half. While White hasn’t played up to expectations recently, the lack of minutes he has been receiving has been head-scratching as the senior captain only played three minutes.
Duke clinched a double-bye in the ACC Tournament with its win over Virginia Tech and moved to 23-4 on the season and 13-3 in the conference.
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The Blue Devils will get back on the road to face the Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Tuesday night, but all Duke basketball fans will be tuned into the Florida State and Louisville matchup on Monday night and hope for a Seminole victory which would give Duke the inside track at the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament.