Duke Blue Devils vs Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-1.5)
Tip-off: 8:00 p.m. EST – ACC Network
Georgia Tech Men’s Basketball are winners of four straight and have battled their way back into the picture for this year’s NCAA Tournament. However, if they’ll have any shot of making it, they’ll need a win over Duke on Tuesday night.
The Jackets enter the game with a 13-8 record on the season and 9-6 in conference play which isn’t all too impressive record-wise but still find themselves among the top-64 teams per the NET Ratings (40), KenPom (30), and Haslam Metrics (26). That being said, in some of the most recent Bracketology projections, the Jackets are very much on the bubble. ESPN has the Jackets on the bubble but as one of the “Next Four Out” while CBS and USAToday both have the Jackets as a team among the “Last Four In”.
Now, back to Tuesday night’s affair between the Jackets and Blue Devils. The Jackets are not only looking for a fifth-straight win but they are also looking for revenge a 75-68 loss to the Blue Devils earlier this season as well as a win on senior night.
The good news for the Jackets off the bat is this season, they have been tremendous at home, with a 10-3 record. Duke, on the other hand, has struggled away from Cameron Indoor Stadium going 3-4 in their seven road games. Overall, the Blue Devils are 11-9 this season including 9-7 in conference play. In reality, Tuesday night’s game between the Jackets and Blue Devils could be looked at as a potential de facto elimination game. The loser of the game would need an ACC Tournament championship run to have any chance to make the tournament while the winner will surely raise their chances quite a bit but a good run in the conference tournament would still be need.
With it being such a big game, the Jackets will turn to senior Moses Wright to lead them to victory. Over his last five, Wright has played at a phenomenal level, averaging 23.8 points, 10.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, as well as one steal and 1.3 blocks per game. Earlier this season against Duke, Wright scored 12 points while bringing down 14 rebounds and dishing out six assists over 40 minutes of action. It wasn’t a stellar game for him points-wise but it was an all-around terrific performance that showed how many ways the 6-foot-9, 223-pounder can hurt you.
When asked about Wright’s recent play, Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski praised the senior out of Raleigh, North Carolina saying;
"“He’s arguably playing as well or better than anybody in our conference. He’s been sensational.”"
The Blue Devils will surely look to lockdown Wright on Tuesday night and with that pressure to do so, it could open up more scoring opportunities for Jose Alvarado and Michael Devoe. Both have been solid of recent but Devoe has had the upper hand. Over his last five, the Orlando native has averaged 19 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. Alvarado, on the other hand, has averaged 10.6 points, 3.2 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 2.2 steals per game. Both should benefit greatly if Wright could draw some potential double-team defensive efforts out of Duke. Not to mention, allowing players such as Jordan Usher and Bubba Parham to get more open shooting opportunities.
Defensively, the Jackets will have their hands full as well especially with forward Matthew Hurt who is averaging 19.3 points and 6.4 rebounds per game this season. He’s been terrific all season for the Blue Devils, shooting 56.9% from the field including 45.8% from beyond the arch. The Jackets can simply not allow Hurt to take over the game at any point on Tuesday or it will be a tough uphill battle.
Fellow forwards Jalen Johnson and Wendell Moore Jr. are also both capable of having big games. Johnson is averaging 11.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game this season while Moore is averaging 9.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists. One last player to keep a note of will be DJ Steward. The freshman out of Chicago is averaging 13.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game this season.
All in all, Tuesday night’s game is set up to be a thriller. Two teams who are fighting for their tournament lives should play with all the desperation in the world creating some exciting action.
Now, for our prediction…
Prediction: Georgia Tech 74 – Duke 68
We’re going to go with arguably the hottest team in the ACC, the Yellow Jackets, to win their fifth straight on Tuesday night. This simply comes down to that the Jackets have been playing phenomenal basketball of late on both sides of the court and may just have too many weapons for Duke to overcome. The Jackers will have to play smart basketball though, they cannot afford to send the Blue Devils to the free throw line at the same rate they did in January. In that game, Duke went 18-for-22 at the line, which proved to be fatal for the Jackets in the 75-68 loss. But we have a feeling Tuesday night’s game is going to go a little bit better for the Jackets than last time.