DURHAM, N.C. — Virginia Tech put up a fight but couldn’t hang with No. 4 Duke in its 88-65 loss on New Year’s Eve.
It was the eighth loss of the season for the Hokies and the seventh by double digits, with the Pitt game (five points) the outlier.
“I’ve seen them play for a long, long time and … I think this is the best Duke team I’ve seen in a bit,” Tech head coach Mike Young said. “I think [it’s] the best defensive team I’ve seen in my six years in this league. They can really disrupt you with their length and their ability to switch everything. … It’s a pretty good outfit.”
Tech (5-8, 0-2 ACC) was neck-and-neck with the Blue Devils (11-2, 3-0) through the first 10 minutes. Tobi Lawal’s dunk at the 9:28 mark gave the Hokies a 16-14 lead, but Duke responded swiftly, outscoring Tech 23-15 over the remainder of the half and leading by as many as 13.
To the Hokies’ credit, they were OK early. They were stingy defensively, forced some turnovers, got out in transition and made some shots when needed. They couldn’t withstand Duke’s eventual surge, though.
“They’re a really good team,” Tech center Patrick Wessler said. “There were a lot of times where we were right there, hand in the face, good defense and they just hit tough shots. Good offense. Perfect offense beats perfect defense.”
Arguably the most balanced squad in the country, the Blue Devils got off to a cold start, missing 10 of their first 11 3-pointers. However, star freshman Cooper Flagg carried the load early by scoring Duke’s first eight points, and he turned the tide for good with a top-of-the-key 3-pointer at the 8:08 mark while getting fouled. That made it 18-16 in the home team’s favor, and Tech never led again.
“Golly day, he’s terrific,” Young said of Flagg. “He’s a really good basketball player. Great skills, floor it, pass it, makes the right basketball plays.”
That was the spark the Blue Devils needed. Kon Knueppel, Isaiah Evans and Mason Gillis followed that up with three treys to cap off a 17-2 run that broke the game open. Though Tech had a quick 6-0 run right before half to pull within seven, Duke punched back and led 37-27 at the break.
The Hokies did their best to fight back in the second half, a charge led by Lawal. He had seven points over a two-minute stretch before the under-12 media timeout and cut the deficit to nine, 49-40. Like clockwork, though, Tyrese Proctor and Evans knocked down back-to-back triples that shut the door.
“They hit shots and we probably didn’t respond the way we should have, but they’re tough,” Wessler said. “They just kept coming.”
Duke gradually pulled away for good, courtesy of a 12-2 run sparked by Proctor and Knueppel.
Lawal was Tech’s leading scorer with 19 points (and drained a career-high three 3-pointers) while Wessler had 10, Ben Burnham chipped in nine and Rodney Brown Jr. added eight. The latter three came off the bench, too. In all, that quartet was a combined 17-of-27 (63%) from the field; the rest of the team was 6-of-23 (26%).
The Hokies shot 46 percent overall (23-of-50), not a terrible mark considering Duke’s defensive prowess. The Blue Devils entered the game ranked second in the nation in defensive efficiency and certainly played like it for stretches.
“We had some new things installed that they’d had some problems with,” Young said, “but good teams and good players and well-coached teams are going to sniff that out and make some subtle adjustments and combat what you’re trying to do, and they did that.”
Yet, it was Duke’s offense that took over in the second half and pushed the Hokies away over and over. After Tech limited the Blue Devils to 42 percent (13-of-31) in the first, they were a fantastic 18-of-27 (67%) after intermission and finished the game at 53 percent (31-of-58).
Their top-10 offense was on display on several occasions, especially in the second-chance points category, where they outscored the Hokies 17-3. Duke’s also the country’s tallest team, which was evident in the rebounding margin — 35-22.
“Their guards are big,” Wessler said. “There were a lot of times where we would take out their big man and then the ball would just bounce somewhere else. … It’s just tough when they’re so tall at every position. We’ve got to find a way to be better on the boards.”
Flagg finished with a game-high 24 points, 14 of which came in the first half. He made nine of his 14 field goal attempts while notching six assists, four steals and three rebounds.
It was a balanced effort behind him, led by Proctor and Knueppel, who had 13 points apiece. Sion James added balance with 10 points and 11 boards while Evans contributed 12 and Gillis posted 10.
The Hokies return to the hardwood on Saturday in Cassell Coliseum vs. Miami (2 p.m. ET, ACCN). The Hurricanes are 4-8 this season but sent shockwaves through the college basketball world when head coach Jim Larrañaga stepped down on Dec. 26. Associate head coach Bill Courtney, a former Tech assistant (2009-10), was appointed as the interim head coach.
Box Score: No. 4 Duke 88, Virginia Tech 65