The Duke basketball team turned in a disappointing performance in the ACC Championship Game.
It was not a pleasant Saturday evening for the Duke basketball team in Brooklyn after its dismal showing in the ACC Championship Game, but the Blue Devils still have the ultimate goal of an NCAA Championship in front of them.
However, we first take a look back at the poor effort and performance in the Barclays Center as Virginia Tech captured its first-ever ACC Championship, 82-67.
The Hokies, an excellent shooting team, connected on a 50.0-percent clip from the field and 45.5-percent from 3-point range.
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Virginia Tech was led by 31 points from Hunter Cattoor and 19 points from Keve Aluma.
Cattoor was 11-of-16 from the floor and 7-of-9 from 3-point territory as the junior was able to shake free and knock down his shots from anywhere on the floor.
Duke’s shooting numbers rivaled that of the Hokies at 49.0-percent. But the Blue Devils could not get anything to fall from the perimeter, making 4-of-20 shots from 3-point range, and the free throw shooting was poor at 15-for-23.
Duke basketball walking down slippery slope entering NCAA Tournament
The recent stretch for the Blue Devils has been troubling, and Duke will need to quickly collect itself in order to avoid an early upset this week.
Duke lost the final home game in the career of Mike Krzyzewski last Saturday night to North Carolina and then put together two shaky performances in the ACC Tournament before falling on the following Saturday to Virginia Tech in the final conference championship game for Krzyzewski.
It’s beginning to look like the Blue Devils peaked in November and have flattened out as the season progressed.
We will take one look back at what went wrong in the ACC Tournament Championship against Virginia Tech.
Duke basketball takeaways in loss to Virginia Tech:
Defense
It felt like Duke did not know Virginia Tech was a lethal 3-point shooting team on Saturday night.
Not only did the Hokies have open looks, but their guards also toyed with the Blue Devils.
Virginia Tech would use ball screens on the perimeter to get a switch on either Paolo Banchero or Mark Williams, and then Hunter Cattoor and Storm Murphy would go to work.
Nothing felt difficult for the Hokies in Brooklyn. They got anything they wanted from anywhere on the floor.
The communication from the Blue Devils was nonexistent, and there was nothing Mike Krzyzewski could do.
However, this was not a one-game issue. The defense has not been good since last Saturday against North Carolina.
Teams are abusing high ball screens to get favorable matchups, and there has been little adjustment from the Blue Devils on how they are defending in those situations.
The inexperience from Duke showed, and the team will have less experience in NCAA Tournament games, which makes things even more worrisome.
Duke basketball takeaway from loss to Virginia Tech:
Hustle
How many times did you see a Duke player dive on the floor for a loose ball?
How many times did you see a Virginia Tech player dive on the floor for a loose ball?
Having to ask that question in such a big game already shows a major problem with the Blue Devils.
There was no hustle or intensity on the Duke side on Saturday night and hasn’t been for quite some time.
Virginia Tech got every 50/50 ball, and the Hokies wanted to win more. That was abundantly clear.
Duke can win a Round of 64 game on talent alone. But when teams start hitting the floor with more purpose than the Blue Devils in the Round of 32, an upset will be easy to see coming.
Duke basketball takeaways in loss to Virginia Tech:
Free Throw Shooting
Duke was thoroughly outplayed on Saturday night, but the Blue Devils had a chance to get back into the game at the free throw line and could not capitalize.
After the media timeout with 3:59 left in the second half, Duke went 2-for-6 from the free throw line.
Paolo Banchero split a pair from the charity stripe when play resumed as Duke trailed by ten, 72-62. And after the Blue Devils got a surprising stop while trailing by nine, 72-63, Jeremy Roach missed two free throws.
Duke could have been back within six with 3:16 to play. Instead, the Blue Devils were still down nine, and that was it.
Free throw shooting is vitally important in March, and the Blue Devils saw their chances at an ACC Tournament slip away, in part, due to issues at the stripe.
Duke will find out its NCAA Tournament fate on Sunday evening at 6:00 p.m. on CBS.