[VIDEO] Coach K Reacts to Loss at Pitt

The Coach K-led Duke Blue Devils traveled north to face off against the Pittsburgh Panthers on Tuesday, January 19th at the Petersen Events Center, losing by a score of 79-73. The Blue Devils entered the game with a 3-1 record in ACC play, putting them in a tie with Pittsburgh for fourth place in the conference. Duke’s first contest against Pittsburgh was postponed due to Covid-19 health and safety protocols; no makeup date has been scheduled as of yet. 

The Pittsburgh Panthers escaped with a narrow victory over the Duke Blue Devils. The major key to the victory was the outstanding play of Pittsburgh’s sophomore forward Justin Champagnie, who managed to give the Panthers an insurmountable edge. 

Freshman forward Jalen Johnson led Duke in scoring with 24 points, 18 of which came in the second half, on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, to notch his highest-scoring game of the season. 

 

Johnson is returning from a foot injury he suffered back in December and stated that he feels like he is “back at 100%” in regards to his health. 

He was the spark for Duke down the stretch as they struggled to claw back and secure the victory. Johnson fouled out late in the contest and his offensive impact was sorely missed by the Blue Devils. 

Duke had a slow start, giving up eight straight points to begin the game. 

When asked about this, Duke’s Wendell Moore Jr. stated that the Blue Devils “Shouldn’t have to keep fighting back” to win games. 

The Blue Devils started the game in a three-two zone defense to throw a unique look at Pittsburgh and limit the easy inside touches for Panthers’ standout forward Justin Champagnie. The zone generated some early steals for the Blue Devils, allowing them to get out in transition and score seven fast-break points in the first half. 

The Panthers shot 17 free throws in the first half in comparison to a paltry six attempts for Duke, a disparity of nearly 200%. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski noted that the rebound differential was relatively even but “we fouled a lot” on Pittsburgh’s rebounds, leading to the free-throw disparity early.

 Duke entered halftime trailing 34-43 after surrendering a 14-to-3 scoring run to close out the first half. The Blue Devils entered the second half in a bit of a daze, allowing Pittsburgh to go on a 10-to-4 scoring run to begin the period and jump out to a 15 point lead. After this Pittsburgh scoring run, Coach K called a timeout with about 16 minutes left in the period and his team emerged from it playing much more intense defense.

Duke’s Jalen Johnson proceeded to go on on a 7-0 scoring run that helped spark the offense back to life and keep Duke within striking distance early in the second half.  He generated 15 points and eight rebounds in the second half alone. After cutting the lead to six points halfway through the second half, Duke looked to finish the job and complete the comeback victory. 

Pittsburgh’s Justin Champagnie created problems for the Duke zone defense all night, finishing the game with 31 points and 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double in six games. Au’Diese Toney also cleared the 20 point-10 rebound mark for the Panthers with 22 points, 13 of which came via free-throws, and 11 rebounds. 

Duke continued to fight back, undeterred by the deficit, cutting the lead to two points, 68-66, with six minutes remaining. During this comeback, Duke held Pittsburgh to zero made field goals for six straight minutes before surrendering a jumper with about three minutes remaining that notched the score at 72-67. 

Johnson proceeded to foul out with under three minutes remaining, forcing the other Duke players on the floor to try and complete the comeback attempt without his dynamic play. 

Speaking on Johnson’s impact against Pittsburgh, Coach K said “[Johnson’s] performance put us in a position to win” the game. 

Duke entered into a back-and-forth with Pittsburgh down the stretch, exchanging baskets several times and cutting the score to 75-73 with a little over one minute remaining. Duke went completely cold down the stretch after Johnson’s exit, missing their last five field-goal attempts to fall just short of completing the comeback attempt. 

Duke (5-4, 3-2 ACC) is back in action on Saturday as they travel to Louisville to face-off with the Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center.