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Georgia Tech Basketball: Jackets look for upset of No.2 ranked Duke

By Dylan Callaghan-Croley

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 26: Head coach Josh Pastner of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets reacts during their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 26, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 26: Head coach Josh Pastner of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets reacts during their game against the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 26, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Georgia Tech will look for win No.2 of 2020 on Wednesday night when they take on one of the nation’s best in Duke

Georgia Tech will look for a second-straight upset on Wednesday night when they take on the Duke Blue Devils. Josh Pastner and his Yellow Jackets picked up their first victory of the new decade last Saturday when they dominated North Carolina.

Wednesday night’s contest against the Blue Devils certainly won’t be as easy for the Yellow Jackets. The Blue Devils enter Wednesday as the country’s No.2 team and own a record of 13-1, their only blemish a 85-83 loss to Stephen F. Austin. Since that loss, they’ve rattled off seven straight victories including an 87-75 win over Michigan State.

The Blue Devils across the board are one of the nation’s best offensively, averaging 84.1 points per game and as a team shoot just under 50% from the field and just over 35% from beyond the arch.

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The Blue Devils are led offensively by true freshman center Vernon Carey Jr.  The 6-foot-10, 270-pound Florida native is almost averaging a double-double this season with 18.4 points and 9.0 rebounds per game. He’s shooting the ball at an extremely strong clip of 62.8%. He’s coming off a 24-point performance against Miami on Saturday night.

In addition to Casey, three other Blue Devils are averaging double-digit points this season as guards Tre Jones and Cassius Stanley are averaging 14.2 points and 11.0 respectively while forward Matthew Hurt is averaging 11.6.

Defensively, the Blue Devils are very strong, with nobody on the roster with a defensive rating per 100 possessions over 91.1. They’ve also averaged 9.2 steals and 6.5 blocks per game this season. Overall, they’re allowing 62.4 points per game this season, best for 50th in the country.

In the Blue Devils last game against Miami, the Hurricane stood no chance as Duke had their strongest shooting night of the year, shooting 59.7% from the field.  The Blue Devils would go onto defeat Miami 95-62 behind their strong offensive performance while keeping the Hurricanes to under 40% from the field and just 2-for-12 from three-point range.

If the Jackets are going to win on Wednesday, it will take a lot. In our interview with Ball Durham, we mentioned that three-pointers, free-throws, and turnovers will be the three major keys for the Yellow Jackets. While that’s not all the Jackets will have to do to get a victory, those three aspects would go a long ways. We all know how much of a struggle those three aspects have been at times during the Josh Pastner era.

Additionally, if the Jackets are going to win on Wednesday, it will have to be a whole team effort. Big performances from Michael Devoe, Moses Wright, and Jose Alvarado are all necessary and having strong efforts from the likes of Jordan Usher and James Banks would go long ways as well.

The Yellow Jackets and Blue Devils are set to tipoff this evening at 9:00 pm EST.