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Duke at Virginia Tech Live Blog

Duke travels to Blacksburg on Tuesday night to face Virginia Tech in a matchup of top-20 teams.

Isaac Schade

BLACKSBURG, VA - For just the second time this season, 19th-ranked Duke takes to the road on Tuesday night (7:00pm ET, ACC Network). The Blue Devils will square off against the 20th-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies.

With a victory, the Blue Devils will move to 4-0 in the ACC and a half-game ahead of idle Louisville and Virginia who are both 3-0 in conference play. A Virginia Tech victory would tie the Hokies and Blue Devils at 4-1, second place in the ACC. 

Duke will be without assistant coach Chris Carrawell and freshman forward Henry Coleman. Both have tested negative for COVID, but are ill and therefore being kept in Durham out of an abundance of caution.

Jalen Johnson is expected to dress for the game, but Coach Krzyzewski said he is not sure whether the freshman will be able to play or not. 

“He will go on the trip, and he will suit up,” he said. “I’m not sure if we’ll play him yet. We have a little bit of time after this game to get him back into condition. He’s got the medical go ahead to go forward, but it’s a matter of conditioning."

Johnson will not be in the starting five (neither will Wenedell Moore for that matter). The Blue Devils will go with Jordan Goldwire, Jeremy Roach, DJ Steward, Jaemyn Brakefield and Matthew Hurt. For Brakefield, it will be the first start of his career.

LIVE BLOG

  • Duke starters - Jordan Goldwire, Matthew Hurt, DJ Steward, Jeremy Roach, Jaemyn Brakefield
  • Virginia Tech starters - Wabissa Bede, Nahiem Alleyne, Tyrece Radford, Keve Aluma, Justyn Mutts
  • Officials - Jeffery Anderson, Tim Clougherty and Tony Henderson
  • Brakefield scores the first points of the night for the Blue Devils, nearly 3:00 into the game. Hokies up 7-2 early.
  • Jalen Johnson checks in with 16:23 remaining in the first half. 
  • 1st Half under-16:00 timeout at 15:34. Virginia Tech leads 11-5 and will have the ball after the break.
  • The Hokies out to an early 10-point lead less than 6 minutes into the game. 17-7.
  • 5-0 run for Duke cuts the lead in half.
  • 1st Half under-12:00 timeout at 11:05. VT on a 6-0 run for a 23-12 lead. Blue Devil ball after the break.
  • Duke is shooting just 35%, while Virginia Tech is at 73%. Hokies have translated that into a 15 point lead (27-12) midway through the first half.
  • VT is on a 12-0 run. 29-12.
  • 1st Half under-8:00 timeout at 7:46. VT leads 31-16 and will have the ball after the break.
  • Jeremy Roach up to 9 points to lead the Blue Devils in scoring.
  • Jalen Johnson has his first points in a long time, but checks right back out of the game.
  • Hokies are 16-21 from the field. 76.2%. Unreal.
  • Wendell Moore with his first bucket of the game cuts the lead to 12.
  • 1st Half under-4:00 timeout at 3:30. Blue Devils with some momentum, but still trail 39-27. Hokie ball after the break.
  • Very few fouls in the first half. Duke taking the first bonus free throws with 2:48 left.
  • Blue Devils up to nine turnovers in the half with 2:00 to go before halftime.
  • Matthew Hurt held to just five first half points so far.
  • Can Blue Devils cut the lead to single digits in the final minute? Unfortunately not, Hokies pick up an and-one to extend lead back to 15.
  • Matthew Hurt hits a crazy three-pointer just before the buzzer to give him eight for the half. Blue Devils trail 46-34 at the half.
  • Blue Devils continue to cut into the lead. Down to six early in the second half. 46-40 VT.
  • 2nd Half under-16:00 timeout at 15:00. It's been a tale of two halves so far. VT lead is down to four at 51-47. Blue Devils have opened the half on a 13-5 run.
  • Matthew Hurt on a personal 8-2 run. Lead down to 1: 56-55.
  • Back-to-back bad looks at three from Moore and Goldwire, lead to an and-one opportunity after the under-12:00 timeout. Hokies up 60-55, looking for one more.
  • Refs at the monitors to see if there's a flagrant on Matthew Hurt. 
  • The officials do indeed assess a technical foul. Mutts misses both free throws. 
  • 2nd Half under-8:00 timeout at 7:02, Virginia Tech leads 64-59.
  • Blue Devils had cut the lead to as few as one, but Hokies lead by seven, 68-61 with 3:43 to go at the under-4:00 media timeout.
  • 3:43 to go and Jordan Goldwire just scored his first point of the game. 68-62 Hokies.
  • VT misses the front end of a one-and-one and the Devils have a chance to cut the lead to four. 
  • Down to four with 2:30 left on two Jeremy Roach free throws.
  • 1:34 to go. VT up 70-64 and shooting two free throws. 1 of 2 for VT. 71-64.
  • Athletic block for Hokie's Aluma gets it back for the Hokies. Mutts gets a wide open dunk and the lead is back to nine with 1:02 remaining.
  • Matthew Hurt misses a jumper. Rebound Hokies.  1 of 2 at the line. 74-64 VT with :50.7 remaining.
  • Another rebound for VT. Blue Devils decide not to foul. 
  • Three-pointer from Roach at the buzzer. Final from Blacksburg: 74-67 Virginia Tech.
  • Blue Devils fall to 4-1 in the ACC, now tied with Virginia Tech.

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