Hurt Has Career Night in Duke Loss to Louisville

Durham, NC—Matthew Hurt dropped a career-high 37 points in a thrilling 80-73 overtime loss versus Louisville (13-5, 8-4 ACC). Duke entered the game looking to extend their win streak to five games and bolster their case for an NCAA Tournament berth. The loss is a major setback for the Blue Devils due to their dwindling number of regular-season games. With only two games remaining it will be critical for the Blue Devils to win out and enter the ACC Tournament with the strongest résumé possible. 

Duke was supported all night by Matthew Hurt’s dominant offensive performance. The sophomore forward finished the evening with 37 points, seven rebounds, one steal, and one block. Hurt was the only Duke player to eclipse double figures in regulation. He added in six points during the overtime period in order to keep Duke within striking distance.  

Duke struggled to contain the Cardinals on the interior all night. Louisville scored 42 points in the paint during the victory. Duke gave up 15 offensive rebounds and 10 second-chance points during the contest. Matthew Hurt noted that “our defense wasn’t good” to begin the game and required correction in the second half. 

Duke matched Louisville’s pace out of the gate to notch the score at 17-17 after 10 minutes of play behind a hot start from both offensive units. Matthew Hurt scored 10 of Duke’s first 15 points and kept the Blue Devils above water amid the Cardinals’ breakneck offensive production. 

As the first half wore on the Blue Devils began to struggle a bit on offense and Louisville pressed their advantage. The Cardinals managed to go on a 19-9 scoring run behind the scoring efforts of graduate transfer Carlik Jones. The graduate transfer from Radford managed to put 9 of his 20 total points on the board during the first half. 

Duke entered halftime trailing 36-26 after a promising start. Sophomore forward Wendell Moore Jr. commented that “we were complacent in the first half” and that Louisville punished them for this complacency. Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski disagreed with the assessment and said it was just a mere outclassing by Louisville, insisting their experience and length bothered his team quite a bit. 

During the second half, Duke looked to close the gap behind a monster scoring performance from Hurt. After dropping 16 in the first half, Hurt managed to remain responsible for over 50% of Duke’s points throughout the entire game. Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski noted that “their defense was better than our offense” and that this aggressive defense caused issues for his young guards. 

The Blue Devils defense locked in during the second half and Duke managed to come roaring back. After going down by 12 early in the second half, Duke scored seven straight points in order to cut the lead to five at a score of 40-35. 

After surrendering a pair of free throws, the Blue Devils continued their climb with six straight points in order to cut the lead down to one at a score of 42-41. Jaemyn Brakefield capped off the run with a dazzling and-one finish for three points. 

During this stretch of the comeback, Matthew Hurt was quiet and many of the points came from other contributors including D.J. Steward, Jeremy Roach, and Jaemyn Brakefield. 

After a bit more back and forth the Cardinals had seized a slim 50-46 advantage.

This is when Matthew Hurt went on a scoring run of his own. The sophomore scored the Blue Devils’ next 13 points. The scoring burst was nothing more than a necessity however as Duke found themselves trailing 62-58 with under three minutes remaining. Duke found themselves running out of time and in need of a few key defensive stops in order to have any chance at a victory.

Duke managed to defend the Cardinals well at that moment, forcing possessions to stall out without surrendering any points. 

After a sequence that saw Jeremy Roach and D.J. Steward draw fouls in succession, Duke found themselves trailing by one point at a score of 62-61 with 2:06 remaining in regulation. Louisville’s Carlik Jones would convert the Cardinals’ final basket of regulation with 1:41 remaining on the clock in order to take a slim 64-62 lead. 

Duke sophomore forward Wendell Moore Jr. managed to draw two fouls in a row down the stretch and converted all four of his free-throws secure a narrow 65-64 advantage for Duke. 

Louisville guard Carlik Jones had a chance to put the game away late after drawing a foul in the waning moments of regulation. He split the pair of free throws at the line and only managed to tie the game at 65-65. Louisville managed to rebound Jones’ miss and kicked it back out to the guard for one final shot at victory. Jones missed a midrange jump shot while guarded by Jordan Goldwire as time expired. 

Duke held the Cardinals to only 29 points in the second half. 

In the overtime period, the Cardinals jumped out to an immediate five point lead and managed to hold steady until the end of overtime. Wendell Moore Jr. and Matthew Hurt combined for all eight of Duke’s overtime points. As time waned in the first overtime Duke was down by three, 76-73, and Matthew Hurt fouled out of the game. He’d just hit the jumper to close the gap to one possession and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.  Wendell Moore Jr. finished the contest with 13 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and one steal. He was the only other Duke player to crack double figures in the contest. 

Duke tried to foul intentionally and close the margin via missed free-throws but it was not meant to be. Louisville escaped Cameron Indoor Stadium with a hard-earned win over a hot opponent. Duke snaps their four-game winning streak but should look to close out the season with two key victories before writing themselves off from an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

Duke (11-9, 9-7) returns to action Tuesday, March 2 to face Georgia Tech (13-8, 9-6) at 8 pm in a tough road test at the McCamish Pavilion to kick off their final week of regular-season play.