Duke demoralizes Utah State
“We’ve got to get it back,” said Utah State guard Chris Smith. “We can’t focus on the past, we’ve just got to go on Tuesday.”
The past Smith speaks of is the 85-52 loss to No. 6 Duke at home in Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Aggies first-ever game against the Blue Devils.
“Now we know what it feels like to play a top ACC team,” Smith said. “We’ve got to get ready for conference. Now we know what to expect and what it takes to compete at this high of a level.
USU men’s basketball didn’t just lose to Duke in North Carolina. The team got beat in nearly every facet of the game, a point not lost by first-year head coach Tim Duryea.
“I don’t think there was one redeeming quality about our performance,” Duryea said. “It was a tremendous atmosphere obviously. An honor to play here and coach against Coach K, but I didn’t think we responded to any of that in a positive way.”
The game left the Aggies with plenty to improve on in the upcoming games, starting with shooting.
“We knew that they were hitting everything,” Smith said. “Our shots aren’t falling. We weren’t getting open or getting good shots. One team is hitting, another team isn’t.”
Things started out a little slow for Utah State, who shot just 37 percent from the floor and 16 percent from behind the 3-point line in the first half. So far this season, USU shoots 49 percent from the floor and 31 percent from behind the arc.
The second half proved to be even worse. Duke went on a 19-2 run to start the final 20 minutes. The Aggies shot 28 percent from the floor in the second, bringing their total to 33 percent for the game.
“I thought we were selfish offensively,” Duryea said. “Too many individual agendas tripped us up on the offensive end … You can’t miss layups and get the ball five or six feet from the basket and come away without getting fouled or scoring. Very demoralizing and we really let that affect us.”
Duke shot 64 percent overall and 71 percent from behind the arc in the second.
“I think we let the fact that it was tough for us on the other end (offensive) wilt us down,” Duryea said. “We really just got soft and the game absolutely got away from us. We have to be more mature than that on defense.”
Another aspect of the game that left want for more was post presence and rebounding.
The Aggies were out-rebounded 40-26. The Blue Devils scored 38 points in the paint and 12 second chance points. Duke also had eight blocked shots and nine steals.
“Those big guys are a presence defensively,” Duryea said. “They are experienced, and they did a good job around the rim. They are going to make it hard for you even if you are doing the right things and have the right mindset. We did not.”
USU doesn’t have much time to right its wrongs. Its next game is coming on Tuesday against Missouri State.
“I told them in the post-game locker room that I wasn’t happy with that performance,” Duryea said. “I wish we could play or practice tonight but we have to travel. We need to be ready to go Tuesday night … I think it has to do with our mentality defensively and a whole different mentality offensively.”
— kalen.s.taylor@gmail.com
Twitter: @kalen_taylor