Miles Kelly is 12-of-27 from three-point range over Tech’s last three games. (photo by Danny Karnik)
The box score, in so many ways, defied the laws of basketball.
Georgia Tech was outscored 17-0 in second chance points and 17-2 in points off turnovers. Teams that lose both categories – let alone by such wide margins – rarely wind up in the win column.
So how did the Yellow Jackets hold off the Blue Devils last month? A couple numbers tell the story:
- Tech shot 50.9 percent and averaged 11 points per possession, both season highs allowed by Duke.
- Tech limited the Blue Devils, who rank third in the ACC in three-point percentage (37.2 pct.), to a season-low 25 percent from deep (4 of 16).
The Jackets didn’t force an obscene number of turnovers, but they played with active hands, which allowed them to recover in their screen-and-roll defense. Duke ran liberal amounts of empty-side pick-and-roll with guard Jeremy Roach and 7-footer Kyle Filipowski, but Tech stayed in gaps and ran to shooters well when they tried to play out of it.
The result? Duke not only shot a season low in three-point percentage, but its three-point rate – i.e., the percentage of its shot attempts that came from beyond the arc – was its second lowest of the year. Compare that to the Blue Devils’ three-point rates in their two most recent games:
Three-Point Rate (% of FGA that are 3-pointers)
- Pittsburgh – 44.6%
- Notre Dame – 44.1%
- Georgia Tech – 25.8%
It adheres to Stoudamire’s philosophy, which he repeated again on Friday: “Threes beat you; twos don’t.”
An injury to point guard Tyrese Proctor two minutes into the game certainly impacted Duke’s flow on offense, but that same attention to detail will need to apply on Saturday. Freshman Jared McCain (43.6 pct. 3pt.) has averaged 17 points per game since that loss, and Filipowski (17.4 ppg) made all four of his three-pointers in the Blue Devils’ rout of Pittsburgh. The Jackets will need to locate Duke’s shooters in transition – the Blue Devils love to enliven the Cameron crowd with transition threes – and be rugged fighting over screens to keep Roach from asserting himself as a three-level playmaker. Duke has also gotten improved play from 6-9 Mark Mitchell (12.2 ppg), a predacious presence in the paint who may be looking to reignite himself after a season-low four points against Pitt.
*****
Odds are Ken Swilling remembers his 72-yard interception return for a touchdown against Boston College in a 13-12 win over the Eagles at Bobby Dodd Stadium in 1989.
It’s less likely Swilling remembers the name of the Eagles quarterback whose pass he picked off that day. In case he doesn’t, it was Mike Power, whose nephew, T.J., is a freshman forward for the Blue Devils. Power graduated from Worcester Academy, the same school that produced Yellow Jacket great Jarrett Jack.
*****
Has Miles Kelly started to show signs of a thaw from three? Over the last three games, the junior has made 12 of 27 three-pointers.
Prior to that, he had gone 12 for his last 57.
Miles Kelly
- Last 3 games: 12 of 27 (44.4%)
- Previous 8+ games: 12 of 57 (21.0%)
