Duke rallies from 23 down, defeats Louisville 71-69

The Blue Devils landed in Louisville, KY winners of 7 straight games and coming off of an emotional win at Virginia. The stage was set for a trap game – the Cardinals of Louisville had been playing terrific basketball, even with their most recent overtime loss to Florida State. Louisville came into Tuesday just 2 games out of first place in the ACC and having split with the second place Tar Heels.

The Cardinals, for 30 minutes of the game, dominated the Blue Devils. Chris Mack’s team had Duke down on the mat, the Blue Devils looked tired and resigned to their fate down 23. The 9 minute mark seemed to change things. Coach K knew he needed more activity on defense and that he needed to put pressure on the Louisville ball handlers. Mike Krzyzewski changed up his defensive strategy and switched to a very extended 2-3 zone coupled with a 2-2-1 press.

Things start to change for Duke and they went on an extended run on the last 9:13 of the game – down 23 the Devils were able to score 35 points in the last 9 minutes and only allow 10 from Louisville. The zone’s activity forced the Cardinals into 9 turnovers down the stretch and Duke heated up from beyond the arc – going 4-9 from 3 to end the game.

Zion Williamson lead the Blue Devils in scoring with 27 points on 9-15 shooting. The freshman forward also grabbed 12 rebounds and had 3 steals. Williamson recorded his 10th double-double this season. Cam Reddish didn’t shoot particularly well from beyond the arc but did score 22 points on 7-19 shooting – his 6th 20 point game of the season. Reddish made the tying 3-pointer with 1:28 left and the go-ahead free throws with 14 seconds on the clock. The freshman forward is averaging 18.4 points over his last 5 games.

The unsung hero for this game for Duke is sophomore point guard Jordan Goldwire. Even though the seldom used reserve guard didn’t score a point, he did contribute 2 assists, 2 steals – his greater value, playing alongside guard Tre Jones, was putting pressure on the Louisville ball handlers. The Cardinals, who had been averaging 17.3 turnovers in their last 3 losses ended the game with 17 against the Blue Devils.