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NEW YORK — The Georgetown men’s basketball team (1-3, Big East) may have tried to make a deal with the devil to get them through their rigorous first week schedule. Just not the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils (4-1, ACC), as the Hoyas fell short in the 2K Classic Final, 86-84, Sunday afternoon at Madison Square Garden.
Sophomore forward Isaac Copeland had a career-high 21 points and freshman forward Kaleb Johnson added 14 points off the bench but the Blue and Gray couldn’t overcome 32 points from Duke sophomore guard Grayson Allen. A potential game-winning three-pointer from Copeland, what would have been his third from downtown in the game’s final 30 seconds, hit off the front rim as time expired.
After Duke freshman guard Derryck Thornton missed both of his free throw attempts with 5.4 seconds left, Copeland grabbed the rebound and dribbled all the way to the left wing before hoisting the desperation attempt.
“I hit two shots before that so I was very confident,” said Copeland after the game. “I got to a spot where I wanted to get to, saw the clock going down and I shot it. It just fell a little short.”
That shot would have successfully completed the Hoyas’ comeback from a nine-point second half deficit. The Hoyas led by five points at halftime, 47-42, but the Blue Devils opened the final period on an 8-0 run to go up 50-49 at the 16:12 mark. Another run, 10-0 this time, quickly followed to extend their lead to 63-54 with 14:04 to play after a layup by senior forward Amille Jefferson. It was during this stretch that the Georgetown offense went five minutes and 12 seconds without scoring.
“We got a little stagnant,” said Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III. “We stopped moving. Once we started moving again, the ball and our bodies started scoring again. We started thinking a little bit too much thinking.”
The Hoyas pulled to within one point, 70-69, with 4:33 to go after a jump shot from senior guard D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera but Duke’s final run proved to be the decider. The Blue Devils went on a 7-0 run over the next two minutes and 19 seconds to stretch the lead to 77-69. Looking back, Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III felt that this was the turning point of the game.
“The whole game, both teams, had been answering,” said Thompson. “It was just that stretch where we didn’t answer. We missed at the offensive end and they kept scoring. That’s what good offensive teams do.”
The hard nosed play of Copeland and Johnson led the way for the Hoyas who also had Smith Rivera (14 points) and sophomore guard L.J. Peak (13 points) score in double-figures. Copeland had 15 first half points as part of his 7-of-14 shooting performance from the floor, while Johnson shot an efficient 4-of-5, including 2-of-3 from three-point range . Thompson appreciated the play of Johnson, especially, as he helped the Georgetown bench outscore Duke’s 31-17.
“I thought Kaleb was pretty good today. As with the other freshmen, he’s getting settled,” said Thompson. “But he’s a competitor who embraces playing all facets of the game. He’s not just trying to score points. He embraces hustling and playing tough. He’s a tough kid that plays hard. I thought he did well.”
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The first half was a track meet, with Georgetown (57 percent) and Duke (50 percent) making at least half of their field goal attempts. The Blue and Gray controlled the tempo for much of the first half, building up a 26-18 lead at the 8:30 mark. The Blue Devils then mustered up a 22-13 charge to take a 40-39 lead with 1:01 left before the Hoyas ended the half on an 8-2 run, punctuated by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Johnson just inside of halfcourt to give them a 47-42 lead entering the locker room.
Georgetown, however, struggled to sustain the same offensive flow in the second half as they did in the first. The Hoyas shot 52 percent from the field in the second half, including 4-of-9 from three-point land, but the switch by Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski to a 1-3-1 zone defense from man-to-man made it much more difficult for the Blue and Gray.
“It slowed us down,” said Thompson. “But I think we got good looks. It’s hard to get a rhythm when someone’s playing a 1-3-1.”
As for the star of the game, Duke’s Grayson Allen, the Hoyas had nothing but praise for him. The Jacksonville, Fla. native, who was Tournament MVP, shot 9-of-12 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range and made all nine of his free throw attempts. He kept the Blue Devils in the game for much of the first part of the first half when the Hoyas threatened to run away, especially with Jefferson and senior center Marshall Plumlee plagued by foul trouble.
“He’s very athletic and very aggressive,” said Copeland of Allen. “He plays the whole 40 minutes very aggressive. He’s always attacking on offense. Just having him come at you every play is pretty difficult.”
Likewise, Krzyzewski had praise for Copeland, the Hoyas’ star of the game, and Georgetown as a whole.
“Copeland is a rising star. He was terrific today too. He’s tall and he can shoot the ball,” said Krzyzewski before praising the Hoyas further. [Georgetown’s] deep. We beat a really good team today. [Georgetown’s] only going to keep getting better.”
Georgetown will return to action this Saturday afternoon at Verizon Center for the start of a seven-game homestand when they host Bryant (2-2, NEC). Tip-off is set for 12:00 p.m.
While some Georgetown fans may be down after the team’s 1-3 start, Krzyzewski is much more optimistic for the Blue and Gray.
“I like them a lot. They’re really big. We looked like midgets out there, especially with our two big guys fouled out,” said Krzyzewski. “They’re well put together, obviously. They’re extremely well-coached. But they get along. They’re very unselfish.”
For additional news and notes from today’s game, click here.
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