Coach K: No Excuse for the Two Turnovers We Had
Duke fell behind by 12 points in the first half before rallying to tie the score at halftime on a Tre Jones three pointer at the buzzer. The Blue Devils had to resort to playing Justin Robinson, who had just 19 minutes of ACC playing time this season coming into the game, due to foul trouble in the post. Robinson responded by scoring, rebounding and blocking shots to lift the team.
“They really came and outplayed us in the half,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Really, Justin Robinson saved us or else we should have been down 10-15 points.”
Duke seemed to take control after halftime before Wake rallied. “Second half, we played defense and we didn't foul, and we got a 10-12 point lead,” Coach K said. “And then we started fouling again, and that got them into single digits—five points. The last minute we just gave the ball up. There's no excuse really for the two turnovers we had. You’ve got to be strong with the ball. They took advantage and Brandon (Childress) who'd has just been just a stud for them for four years, hit a big time shot. A big time shot. We should've been stronger with the ball. At least go to the line. First overtime, I thought our kids did some really good things to tie it. The second overtime they just took over. Obviously, the total game they were the team that was deserving of winning. We had a chance to get it at the end and we had those two turnovers and gave it up, which is very frustrating but again if they’re not playing hard against us and they don’t make the shots, then we still win. So they made big time plays to beat us."
