Duke guard Jeremy Roach (3) watches as teammate Tyrese Proctor (5) is helped off the court by teammates after being injured in the first half of their game against Georgia Tech, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023, in Atlanta.
AP
Atlanta
No. 7 Duke’s bad week on the road got worse Saturday.
The Blue Devils lost their second game in a row, 72-68 to Georgia Tech, and also lost starting point guard Tyrese Proctor to a leg injury less than two minutes into the game.
Baye Ndongo, a 6-9 freshman from Senegal, scored 21 points for Georgia Tech. That included two baskets on lob passes that erased Duke’s 68-66 lead and turned the game in Georgia Tech’s favor for good.
The Blue Devils trailed by as many as 11 in the second half before rallying to take a 66-62 lead with 2:20 to play on Mark Mitchell’s dunk in the lane off a pass from Jeremy Roach. But Mitchell immediately received a technical foul for taunting.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer said he didn’t see the play but the officials told him the taunting was clear. Mitchell was not made available to the media for questions after the game.
“They told me it was taunting and it was clear,” Scheyer said. “Like, there was no arguing it. There’s no defense. He pointed and said something. If that’s the case, he can’t do that. But I can’t say that he did because I haven’t seen that play yet. And you don’t need me to tell you that’s a big play in the game.”
That allowed Kelly to sink two free throws for Georgia Tech. On the ensuing possession, Georgia Tech tied the game at 66-all on Kelly’s basket with 1:58 to play.
Duke moved back in front, 68-66, on Kyle Filipowski’s basket, off another strong pass from Roach, with 1:36 to play.
But the Blue Devils (5-3, 0-1 ACC) didn’t score again, turning the ball over on consecutive possessions in the final minute before Roach had his shot attempt with three seconds left blocked by Ndongo.
The Yellow Jackets (4-2, 1-0 ACC) posted their second consecutive win over a ranked opponent. They beat No. 21 Mississippi State, 67-59, on Tuesday night. On night later, Duke dropped an 80-75 game at Arkansas.
Roach led Duke with 20 points. Caleb Foster and Filipowski had 12 each. Mitchell scored 11 points.
After shooting poorly from the perimeter in Wednesday night’s loss at Arkansas, the Blue Devils hit only 4 of 16 (25%) of their 3-pointers while losing to Georgia Tech. Roach hit two, but Jared McCain and Filipowski both missed all three of their 3-point attempts.
Miles Kelly had 16 points and Kowacie Reeves 14 points for the Yellow Jackets.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Duke fails in the clutch
The Blue Devils showed moxie after trailing 12-2 early and 45-34 with 17:19 to play. They took their 66-62 lead on a possession that included two Mitchell dunks. He was fouled after the first one and missed the free throw, only for Duke to secure the rebound and see Roach get the ball to him inside for another dunk.
Mitchell’s technical foul slowed Duke’s momentum, though.
After Georgia Tech tied it and Filipowski put Duke back in front with 1:36 to play, the Blue Devils were sloppy on their last three possessions. Mitchell lost control of the ball in the lane with 53 seconds to play. Attempting to hit Mitchell in the lane, Roach fired the ball out of bounds with 32 seconds left.
Duke trailed 70-68 and had possession with 18 seconds left but couldn’t get a shot off. After Duke in-bounded the ball with 5.9 seconds left, Roach had the ball to the right of the basket but his forced jumper was blocked.
That was emblematic of Duke’s issues on offense of late, Scheyer said. The Blue Devils finished with just 11 assists on their 26 field goals. That’s compared to Georgia Tech’s smoother offense that had 19 assists on 27 field goals.
“I haven’t liked the way we shared the ball the last two games,” Scheyer said. “We have 11 assists. We, as a team, I believe should have close to 20 assists a game. We should. It should come easier for us.”
Proctor injury
Proctor fell to the court in pain after missing a layup in the crowded lane with 18:44 to play in the first half.
The game stopped, allowing Duke’s medical staff to work on Proctor. He was helped to the bench my two teammates. Duke athletic trainer Jose Fonseca accompanied a limping Proctor to the locker room. They returned a few minutes later with Proctor still limping.
Proctor spent the rest of the first half on the bench with a towel around his shoulders. He returned to the bench after halftime using crutches.
Scheyer said Proctor will get an X-ray to determine the extent of the injury.
Foster replaced him in the lineup to start the second half. Proctor averages 11.7 points and 5.4 assists per game this season.
Without their point guard, the Blue Devils only committed six turnovers in the game, but two came in the final minute.
Young gets the start
Scheyer altered his lineup slightly, with 6-10 graduate student Ryan Young starting along with Filipowski inside. That meant Mitchell came off the Duke bench to play, marking the first time in his Blue Devils career he’s not started in a game he’s later appeared in.
Mitchell wound up playing more minutes than Young anyway, providing strong play inside late with a pair of dunks that gave Duke a 66-62 lead with 2:20 to play. That was before he was called for the key technical foul.
Young played 12 minutes, scoring two points and grabbing three rebounds. Duke finished the game even with Georgia Tech in rebounding as they secured 33 each. The Yellow Jackets had only six offensive rebounds.
This story was originally published December 2, 2023, 4:35 PM.
Steve Wiseman has covered Duke athletics since 2010 for the Durham Herald-Sun and Raleigh News & Observer. In the Associated Press Sports Editors national contest, he’s placed in the top 10 in beat writing in 2019, 2021 and 2022, breaking news in 2019 and explanatory writing in 2018. Previously, Steve worked for The State (Columbia, SC), Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, S.C.), The Sun Herald (Biloxi, Miss.), Charlotte Observer and Hickory (NC) Daily Record covering beats including the NFL’s Carolina Panthers and New Orleans Saints, University of South Carolina athletics and the S.C. General Assembly. He’s won numerous state-level press association awards. Steve graduated from Illinois State University in 1989.
