Icing on the cake: Three takeaways as No. 5 Duke basketball rolled past Georgia Tech

Though their phenom is no longer a 17-year-old superstar, the No. 5 Duke Blue Devils proved Saturday that they are just as elite.

Preseason all-American Cooper Flagg scored 13 points on his 18th birthday. He was one of four Blue Devils in double figures as Duke routed Georgia Tech, 82-56, in ACC basketball at McCamish Pavilion.

In running its winning streak to six games, Duke (10-2, 2-0 ACC) shot a season-best 56.4% and hit 10 of 25 3-pointers. After leading by five points at halftime, Duke used a 14-0 run early in the second half to ruin any upset hopes Georgia Tech (5-7, 0-2 ACC) harbored.

Kon Knueppel hit four 3-pointers to score 18 points to lead Duke, while fellow freshman Khaman Maluach added 15 points on 5-for-5 shooting. In addition to Flagg’s 13, Tyrese Proctor added 10 points for Duke. Six different Blue Devils made at least one 3-pointer against Georgia Tech.

Knueppel also led Duke with five assists and didn’t commit a turnover in his 32 minutes of play.

“Collectively,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, “I thought a lot of different guys stepped up, and it was a great effort. So proud of our team with the 20 assists, second highest we’ve had all year. Think our offense is coming along.”

Here are three takeaways from the game:

No slow start this time

As well as Duke has played this season, it has consistently struggled in the game’s early minutes. Falling behind Auburn 13-2 only to rally for an 84-78 win is but one example of a trait that Scheyer said has kept him up nights trying to fix. Coming back from 14 down to beat Louisville, 76-65, on Dec. 8, was another pleasant ending but falling into a 13-point early deficit led to a 75-72 loss to Kansas on Nov. 26.

Well, whatever he did worked Saturday.

Duke started the game hitting 11 of its first 15 shots, including 4 of 7 3-pointers, to take a 29-15 lead. When Knueppel hit his third 3-pointer of the first half, with 6:14 to play until halftime, Duke led 32-18.

That shooting cooled off in the final stages of the half, allowing Georgia Tech to climb back and trail 41-36 at intermission.

But the Blue Devils hit five of their first six shots of the second half, as they built their lead back to double digits for good at 52-39.

Knueppel regains his touch

A 6-7 freshman, Knueppel made an early splash for the Blue Devils when he made seven of his first 14 3-pointers of the season. But he hit a lull in the six weeks since helping Duke beat Maine and Army in the season’s first two games.

Knueppel went 1 for 8 from 3-point range when Duke lost 77-72 to Kentucky on Nov. 12 and entered Saturday having shot 27% from 3-point range in Duke’s last nine games.

He turned that trend around early against Georgia Tech, hitting three first-half 3-pointers on six attempts while scoring nine points before halftime. He hit another 3-pointer in the second half, allowing him to match the season-high four 3-pointers he hit against Army on Nov. 8.

Knueppel called the last few weeks “the worst slump of my life” and that he was worrying about it too much. That made Saturday’s performance extra sweet.

“You’ve just got to have the next-play mentality and be tough that way,” Knueppel said. “So I tried to do that and have a bunch of fun.”

This kind of shooting from Knueppel would obviously make Duke’s offense even more potent and could be necessary for the Blue Devils to win as much as they hope to come March.

Duke defense clamps down

While the shooting was a pleasant addition for Duke on Saturday, its defense was its normally stingy self. That was particularly true in the second half.

Georgia Tech made just one of its first 12 shots from the field after halftime, allowing Duke to pull away from its five-point halftime lead.

The Yellow Jackets shot 25% in the second half, making only 7 of 28 shots, to finish at 36.2% for the game.

Duke recorded five steals as Georgia Tech turned the ball over 10 times.

The Blue Devils entered Saturday No. 2 nationally in defensive efficiency, allowing just .886 points per possession. Georgia Tech managed .862 points per possession on Saturday.