Rodney Hood And Duke Beat Georgia Tech 79-57

Jan 7, 2014; Durham, NC, USA; Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard/forward Marcus Georges-Hunt (3) drives to the basket past Duke Blue Devils forward Rodney Hood (5) at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Dolejs-USA TODAY Sports

Georgia Tech needed a superstar performance from at least one of their players to get a win against the Duke, but they weren’t able to get it from any of them, and Rodney Hood and the Blue Devils exploded in the second half to beat the Yellow Jackets 79-57.

The aforementioned Hood, had a phenomenal night shooting. He was 8-12 from the floor and 5-7 from behind the arc to drop 27 points on the Jackets and lead his team in scoring. In addition to those numbers, he was a perfect 6-6 from the free throw line and grabbed six rebounds.

Those kind of numbers were too much for Tech to hang with, especially in the second half. The first half was actually pretty successful for the Jackets, who finished just a point behind Duke (34-33) in the first period. However, the Hood got hot and Duke found a way to get to the basket more easily and often, while stepping up their own defense at the same time. During the second half Duke outscored Georgia Tech 45-24 and really took over the game.

While Jabari Parker might have had another lackluster game–just 12 points and six rebounds–the Devils’ other players were just too good and too efficient for Tech.

Four of Duke’s starters hit the double-digit mark in points, and the one player who didn’t manage that (Amile Jefferson) led both teams with ten rebounds. However the biggest difference in the game could easily be from the free throw line. Duke shot 88 percent (22-25) from the charity stripe and Georgia Tech was an astounding 0-6.

Yep, you read that right. The Yellow Jackets didn’t make a single free throw and only went to the line six times. You’re not going to get it done against a team as good as Duke with those numbers.

Georgia Tech had solid performances from Marcus Georges-Hunt (18 points, 8-12 from the field, 2-4 from three) and Daniel Miller (14 points, eight rebounds, 7-11 from the field) but against Duke, they needed much more than a few solid performances.