Duke poised for another magical March

Everything was clicking for the Blue Devils in the first half. Duke led Syracuse 78-75 thanks to a first-half double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds) from Jayson Tatum on an efficient 6/11 shooting.

In the second half, the Orange outscored the Blue Devils 53-42 and limited Tatum to five points on 2/5 shooting. That said, it still took a last second three-pointer by John Gillon to give Syracuse the win, and its first lead of the night.

Even with the upset loss, Duke is still a dangerous postseason team.

On Jan. 23, the then No. 15 Blue Devils suffered their fifth loss of the season by falling at home to North Carolina State for the first time since 1995. It was Duke’s third loss in four games and fourth in seven games. The NC State loss was the only one of those four to happen at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Of the five ranked opponents that the Blue Devils had played to that point, three traveled to Coach K Court. Duke lost both road games to ranked foes, Florida State and Louisville.

Everything changed on Jan. 30.

The then No. 21 Blue Devils topped No. 20 Notre Dame in South Bend, 84-74. The 10-point win was exactly what Duke needed. Don’t forget, after the NC State loss head coach Mike Krzyzewski banned his players from their locker room on non-game days. At the time, Krzyzewski was not actively coaching the team since he was recovering from back surgery.

The Notre Dame game was the last that Krzyzewski missed. The Blue Devils went 4-3 without him and are 6-1 since he returned. In that time, Duke beat No. 8 North Carolina at home and No. 11 Virginia on the road. The Blue Devils are 3-0 against ranked opponents since the NC State loss after starting the season 2-3.

Now, Duke has lost for the first time since the NC State game, but a lot has changed then. The aforementioned return of Krzyzewski was invaluable, but so too has the emergence of Tatum. The freshman has scored in double-digits in 18 of 20 games and has 12 games with at least 10 points and seven rebounds.

Tatum is the forward that Duke lacked last season. Luke Kennard and Grayson Allen are talented scorers but are both guards. The way to stop Duke last season (and early this season) was to frustrate Allen and focus solely on Kennard. The Blue Devils lost 11 games last season for the first time since 2007 but still made it to the 2016 Sweet 16.

This year, Allen’s tantrums continued and he was suspended. He’s been inconsistent since his return on Jan. 4, but he’s found a way to stay on the court and out of trouble. Kennard has built off his success as a freshman, improving in points per game, field goal percentage, three-point percentage and rebounds per game. He has recorded a team-high 15 20-point games this season.

Even with the Syracuse loss, Duke is clicking. Four of the Blue Devils six losses have come on the road and it could get worse since Duke closes the regular season out at North Carolina. Regardless, the good news is that the ACC and NCAA Tournaments are played at neutral sites.

Duke has figured out its identity and will be frightening to face in March. Tatum and Kennard are tough enough to stop, but imagine if Allen can rediscover his scoring touch from last season when he averaged 21.6 points per game on nearly 47-percent shooting. The Blue Devils are 7-2 when Allen, Kennard and Tatum all score in double-digits. The ‘Big Three’ is The Key.