Duke loses to Pitt but Jalen Johnson’s return changes things

The unranked Duke Blue Devils fell in Pittsburgh Tuesday night 79-73.

No, I never thought I’d write those words.

But that’s where Duke basketball is right now, a mid-level ACC team struggling to put their parts together into something akin to Duke basketball.

The loss was Duke’s second in a row, dropping them to 3-2 in the ACC, 5-4 overall, with a dangerous Louisville looming on Saturday afternoon.

Pitt moved up to 4-1 and 8-2.

Yes, Pitt looked really good, especially second-year forward Justin Champagnie, who improved his ACC Player of the Year qualifications with an astonishing performance of 31 points and 14 rebounds.

But Duke used to make teams look good. Are teams picking up their matches against an injured giant? Or isn’t Duke good enough to close the deal?

And the deal was there to be done.

Duke fell behind again early, 8-0 out of blocks.

“The most disappointing thing for me was when we left,” said Mike Krzyzewski. “We practiced a lot and tried different things and having to call a time-out after two minutes is not acceptable.”

One of those different things was zone defense, a defense that Duke stuck with.

“We’ve been working on the zone all week,” said Wendell Moore II. “For the most part, we are doing a very good job. We need to talk more and be a little more active. “

Krzyzewski called the area good but not great and indicated that it will be part of Duke’s arsenal going forward.

“We’re going to need an area to move forward because we’re not a great team, we’re not a physical team.”

Krzyzewski cited dribbling penetration as something Duke needs to work on out of the zone.

Still, Duke cleared that eight-point deficit fairly quickly, taking a 14-13 lead and trading baskets with Pitt for nine minutes.

Much of that race was fueled by Moore (15 points) and Jalen Johnson, neither of whom started. Johnson was exceptional, a career-high 24 points, with 15 rebounds, seven assists, two steals and four blocks.

Pitt’s decisive run lasted the last four minutes of the first half and the first four of the second half.

Leading 31-29 after a 3-point Matt Hurt, Duke missed six straight shots, with three turnovers thrown into the mix. Pitt increased his lead to 43-31 before Moore hit a 3 to send Duke into the locker room 43-34.

It got worse before it got better. Pitt’s biggest lead was 55-40, with 4:32 to go. This equates to a run of 26-9.

What happened?

“We just have to run,” Moore said. “We didn’t get the shots we needed, we didn’t get the saves we needed.”

Krzyzewski said Duke is overwhelmed at critical times.

But Duke returned to the game. Johnson scored eight points in just two minutes and the deficit was down to eight, 56-48.

Then Hurt rode it after a rough first half. A Hurt 3 pointer made 68-66, with 5:40 left, an eternity.

Hurt scored nine of his 13 points after intermission.

But Duke couldn’t get over the bump. Twice in the last two minutes Duke scored to cut the deficit to two points and both times allowed layups. Duke missed his last four shots and it was an end.

“They performed right at the end of [shot] clocks, ”Krzyzewski said of the winners. “And they got to the line. They shot 37 free throws [24 makes]. We need to do a better job of blocking it. . . For them to get 37 free throws, you’re not going to win a lot of games that way. “

Moore indicated that a poor defensive rebound led the Pitt to reach the line. But Pitt grabbed eight offensive rebounds, while Duke grabbed 15 and only shot 19 fouls.

So it was more than that.

And Duke only managed 11 of those foul shots, or 58 percent. Woeful also describes Duke’s 8-for-28 (28.6%) shot from beyond the arc.

How does Duke take the turn?

“In order for us to find a team, there has to be some level of consistency in the performance of all the kids so that you can define the roles,” Krzyzewski said. “They have to be tougher. It’s such a young team. They are as young a team as we have had them for a long time. We cannot afford to be on the ground. We must respond. “

NOTES

Duke passed Pitt 43-42 and had two fewer turnovers, 11-13. But that 13 point gap at the foul line was a chasm Duke couldn’t get over.

With the victory, Jeff Capel became the first former Krzyzewski player to secure a victory over his former head coach.

Johnson said he was 100% healthy.

“A lot of treatment, a lot of rehabilitation, a lot of work. I’m happy to finally be able to come back.