No. 2 Duke Too Much For Virginia Tech In 76-65 Loss

By Carter Hill

Staff Writer

December 22, 2021

DURHAM, N.C. — In the first 20 minutes of play, Virginia Tech hounded, picked on, and attacked No. 2 Duke down low with star forward Keve Aluma.

In the final 20 minutes of play, the Blue Devils (11-1, 1-0 ACC) became rhythmic, systematic, and efficient with its own star forward Paolo Banchero, flexing its muscles en route to a 76-65 victory over the Hokies (8-5, 0-2 ACC) inside a buzzing Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“Goodness gracious, what a good looking basketball player,” said Tech head coach Mike Young of Banchero, who led Duke with 23 points.“He’s terrific, I thought we guarded him well. But he touched us up in the second half.”

To Young’s point, 17 of those 23 points came in the second period of play for the 6-foot-10, 250-pounder, as there was no answer all over the floor for both the preseason ACC player and freshman of the year.

So what did the Blue Devils do to expose his talents much more in the second half?

“[They] threw him the damn ball and got out of the way,” according to Young. “That’s good stuff. He’s that talented. He’s that good. He just was better on the offensive end of the floor…good looking player.”

Junior Wendell Moore Jr. tallied 18 points into the box score, while fellow true freshman AJ Griffin added 13 points off the bench for the Blue Devils.

More so, he provided a spark for the second-best team in the country according to AP voters, and drilled a dagger three from the left wing with just over three minutes remaining in the contest.

“We knew how talented he was,” Young continued, this time about Griffin. “AJ Griffin didn’t sneak up on us, let’s put it that way…He may have been the difference in the game.”

Aluma looked like he was going to be the difference in the game in the first half though, and he certainly was early on. The 6-foot-9, 235-pounder totaled a season-high 25 points to lead all scorers, with 17 of those coming in the first period of play.

It was the Aluma of old, one that led the Hokies in scoring a season ago. In big games earlier this year — namely then-No. 9 Memphis, where he shot 5-of-17 — Aluma looked overmatched, only averaging 12.7 points per game, struggling against teams with a towering presence down low.

In the six games since the Hokies’ loss to Memhpis, he’s turned the corner and averaged 17 points a night, looking less timid against taller matchups that challenge him to get tough at the rim.

“I was just being aggressive, just trusting my teammates,” said Aluma, who orchestrated a 36-32 halftime lead for the Hokies. “They weren’t doubling the post, I had time to do what I wanted to do…they definitely had more eyes on me in the second half.”

Griffin confirmed.

“Paolo (Banchero) was locking him (Aluma) down towards the end,” the Dallas, TX native pointed out. “We just had to have a different mindset in the second half saying ‘yeah we’re not going to let it happen,’ we all made that a priority.”

“He’s one of the best players in the country and a huge matchup problem,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “They’re really good. They’re old, they play outstanding defense and are really difficult to defend.”

It seemed as if the Blue Devils were going to roll early. After leading 13-4, Virginia Tech went on a quick 9-0 run to even things up, taking its first lead at 22-21, and seeing the contest go back and forth for the remainder of the first half.

It was the first time Duke had trailed at the intermission all season long, but it didn’t last.

Shooting 62% from the field, the aforementioned 17 points from Banchero, and a timely 13-0 run when the Blue Devils trailed 42-34, willed Kryzyzweski’s team to a solid ACC victory in its conference opener.

On the flip side, the Hokies shot just 41% in the second half, and only drilled a single shot from downtown.

“We need to shoot the ball a lot better from three, we need more,” said Young. “We didn’t shoot it great, I think that was a point of emphasis for Duke, to run at (Nahiem) Alleyne, (Storm) Murphy, (Darius) Maddox, and (Hunter) Cattoor. They do so with great length, and were very disruptive. We’re going to figure it out.”

Justyn Mutts may have had his best game of the 2021-22 campaign as well, adding 20 points of his own. Cattoor, Murphy, and Maddox all added 10, eight, and two points, respectively.

No one else entered the box score for Virginia Tech.

“That was a big win for us,” Kryzyzweski explained. “They are going to be as good as anyone in the conference. I’m very pleased.”

Young certainly hopes so.

“That was a good college basketball game, I wish we could’ve had a better outcome. I’ve got a good team, but they played appreciatively better than we did in the second half. The final score is what it is.”