The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men’s basketball team headed into their matchup with the No.5 ranked Duke Blue Devils 6-7, looking to be at .500 or better for the first time since Nov. 22, however the Blue Devils had other plans, as they moved to 10-2 this season, defeating the Yellow Jackets 82-56.
The 26-point loss by the Yellow Jackets is the team’s largest of the season.
The Yellow Jackets guards couldn’t get any momentum going for the team, as they shot 9-31 as a collective unit, forcing the Yellow Jackets to rely on big men Baye Ndongo and Dwight Powell to carry the load on the offensive end. Ndongo and Powell were the only two Yellow Jackets to finish with double digit point totals, as Ndongo finished with 14 and Powell finished with 13.
While the big men produced points, one thing that the team didn’t produce was rebounds, as the Blue Devils out rebounded the Yellow Jackets 36-25.
On the other side of the court, four of the five Blue Devil starters scored in double figures, including an 18-point outing by Kim Knueppel, who also added four rebounds and five assists in the contest.
The game was the start of the bulk of the conference schedule for the Yellow Jackets, as they will have one more nonconference game before ACC teams will be the only ones they take on for the rest of the season. The Yellow Jackets enter the part of their schedule 0-2 against ACC opponents, with the loss to the Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels back on Dec.7.
Up next for the Yellow Jackets will be their last nonconference matchup of the season, as they host the Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs on Saturday at 2pm Eastern time.