Five Duke basketball players highlight the formula for success

Five promising individual performances have restored Duke basketball hopes.

Every Duke basketball game in conference play has been close this year. Tuesday night’s 75-68 home win over Georgia Tech (7-5, 3-3 ACC) was certainly no exception. Thanks in large part to the five players highlighted in this article, Duke (6-5, 4-3 ACC) was able to find the right formula for success to finally come out victorious in a close game.

The Blue Devils darted out to a 10-point lead early in the second half, but they slowly watched their lead vanish. Yet every time Georgia Tech came knocking, Duke was right there to answer. The young team showed toughness and resiliency.

It is not going to be easy for the Blue Devils the rest of the way, but if they continue to play how they did against the Yellow Jackets, then they can certainly get the season turned in the right direction.

Now, 3-point shooting has been a struggle for Duke the entire season. As a team, the Blue Devils are hitting just 33.1 percent of their attempts from beyond the arc. The biggest issue, though, has been the volume of 3-point shots. Last week, they put up 28 in the loss to Pitt and 25 in the loss to Louisville, making only eight each time.

On Tuesday, however, the Blue Devils seemed set on settling for fewer 3-point shots, finishing 5-for-16 from deep while finding more shots from mid-range and around the basket.

Speaking of improvement around the basket, let’s look at the tallest of the five key performers who ensured the team found its winning formula…