February 7, 1985: at #2 Duke (20-1)
The Blue Devils are going to wreck George Washington if they play the way they played on Tuesday night. They are coached by lifer, Jack Howard. He has been a head coach since 1968, with Pepperdine. He then took BYU in 1974, getting them to the FInal Four. He then saw the resurgence of NC State, getting them to the NCAA Championship in 1981-82. And now, he has turned this group of Duke players into the best team in the nation.
They are deep, experienced (four starters returned from last year's team), and dynamic. Four players average double-figures, led by Joe Tu's 17.0 points a game (he also averages 6.6 rebounds). Dean Davis puts up 13.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game.
Statistically, they are almost a carbon copy of George Washington. Top-flight, efficient offense, good at rebounding, good at preventing teams from shooting well against them. Good at getting steals. The only difference is, Duke is 13-1 against the top 11, 8-1 against the top fifty. George Wasington is 7-0 against the top hundred, but they have not played a single team in the top fifty.
This is the night everyone finds out what George Washington is made of.
Duke has a 7'2 center in Keenan Venezuela. Carlton Sandberg opens with a free throw...Hulett scores for GW. Jack misses his first attempt. Tu throws down a dunk in traffic. Jack gets fouled by Tu, and scores, and gets the free throw. 5-3, GW. Tu responds, still heated after arguing the call. Jack finds Armbruster. Orville Ayer scores...Jack gets a steal, and he finds Hulett for a score. Venezuela responds. Woods scores off a Hulet pass...Dean Davis hits a three, giving Duke a 12-11 lead with thirteen minutes left.
Ayer scores. Hulett responds with a three. Ayer finds Davis. Jack, so far, is a little cold...3-1-2 for him. Hulett has seven, and now he has a steal. Jack gets fouled again by Tu. He hits both his free throws, and the game is tied once again. Sandberg scores...Woods responds. Ayer scored from inside, but Hulet gives GW a 21-20 lead with a three. Grayson's in after Armbruster commits his inevitable second foul.
Sandberg scores with 7:37 left. Kenny misses a three. Duke has been on the verge of pulling away, but they haven't been unable so far. Kenny gets a steal, but Tu gets the block. Jack has been quiet...5-2-2 so far for him. Hector ties it with a three...Jack gets a big block, then he finds Grayson. GW leads 26-24. Hector with a steal, but he misses the three. The reserves did well for GW...and the starters come back up 26-24.
Davis immediately ties it. Hulett tips in a Jack miss. It's 28-26, with 1:04 left. Hulett hits a three. He has 15...Hulett gets to the line, and he hits both. 33-26. Kenny gets fouled...he makes one of two, and George Washington has an unlikely 34-26 lead at the half. Duke had eight turnovers, to just three for GW. Jack had a very quiet 5-3-3 line, but Hulett's 17 led the way.
Davis gets a steal on the first possession, and a score. Venezuela gets another, and it's 34-30 quickley. Jack hits a three on his first shot...then he gets a steal, but Hulett misses a three. Tu, I believe, has four fouls. He comes out. Valenzuela blocks Jack...Woods charges into Sandberg. It's 39-32 after Jack scores again, 16:26 left.
Hector gets a tip-in somehow. 41-32. GW is all over the the rebounds, getting five offensive rebounds on one possession. Sandberg gets fouled by Grayson, hits one of two. Neighbors scores. Jack responds by finding Hulett. Davis gets a tip-in...Davis gets his fourth foul. Jack scores from the corner, and Duke, with their two stars in foul trouble, are having issues. Jack finds Hulett. He has 12-6-5, Hulett has 19, and it's 47-40. Chris Johnson hits a three, then gets another bucket. 47-42, 11:58 left.
Woods fouls Clement Belton...he hits both. Down to four. Armbruster gets the bucket, the foul...and he misses the FT, but Jack gets the board, and he gets fouled and scores. HE missed the free throw too. Valenzuela hits two free throws...Jack gets to the line...he hits both. 53-46 with 9:54 left.
Both teams are in the penalty. Kelly Williams hits two...Grayson scores on the other end. Sandberg responds, and Jack gets fouled. He hits both. He has 18-9-5...Ayer gets a three-point play on the other end. Jack follows that with a dunk off a miss. Belton hits, but Hulett responds with a three off a Jack pass. Belton responds, and suddenly, it's 62-57 after some incredibly high-quality basketball.
The JVs are in. Oh no. Hector gets fouled by Ayer...but they are scrapping like crazy. Ali gets a bucket. Amrando Hartsock gets two free throws. It's 64-60. The starters and Hector are in. Valenzueal scores. Hulett responds iwht a three off a Jack pass. Williams responds to that. 67-64. Jack gets to the line...he hits both. 22-12-7 for him. 5:39 left. Hartsock hits two free throws. Kenny is called for a travel...and Tommy Burns ties it on a three. 5:02 left.
Ayer gets a steal, and he gives Duke a 71-69 lead. Ayer charges into Armbruster. GW has a lid on their basket. Tu misses...Jack misses on the other end. Ayer misses a three. The tension is amazing. Jack hits a three! 72-71...Jack with a steal...but Woods misses. 1:37 left.
Ayer hits a three...74-72, Duke. 1:26 left. Kenny gets it to Hulett, he misses, Jack with a rebound, and Kenny is fouled. He gets one of two. Valenzuela hits two free throws. Ali misses a three...Jack was not on the floor. Why in the world was Jack not on the floor? Neither was Hulett?
Why in the world were your top two scorers not on the floor?
Duke escapes, 76-73. George Washington has lost. They outrebounded Duke, 42-32. They shot poorly (37%), and they lost by three. Duke shot 54%, and GW lost by three.
George Washington was the better team today. I think they got a lot more from this than most would think. They lost...but that may produce wins down the line.
Looking at it, Jack had 25 despite a bad shooting day...and 11 of his 13 boards were on the offensive end. But if you look at it, the Hulett Theory is proven here. They needed someone other than Jack or Hulett to step up. They didn't get it. Nobody else had more than five.
Code:
Duke 76, George Washington 73
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George Washington (21-1, 0-0):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Brian Armbruster C 33 2-6 0-1 2 12 1 3 4
Bruce Woods PF 29 2-8 0-0 4 5 2 4 4
Jack Dawkins SF 36 7-19 9-10 11 13 7 1 25
Kenneth Frazier SG 26 1-6 2-4 0 1 1 3 4
Richie Hulett PG 33 9-17 2-2 1 4 5 3 25
Hector Patterson PG 23 2-7 0-1 1 1 2 0 5
Michael King PG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
Glenn Grayson PF 9 2-3 0-0 0 3 0 4 4
Denny Perez C 6 0-2 0-0 1 2 0 0 0
Porter Ali SF 4 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 3 2
F. Boutwell SG 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0
David Echevarria PF 1 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0 0
Turnovers: 12 (B.Armbruster 2, B.Woods 2, K.Frazier 3,
R.Hulett 3, G.Grayson 1, P.Ali 1)
Blocked Shots: 1 (J.Dawkins 1)
Steals: 7 (J.Dawkins 4, K.Frazier 1, R.Hulett 1,
H.Patterson 1)
3P FGs: 8-24 (B.Armbruster 0-2, J.Dawkins 2-2,
K.Frazier 0-4, R.Hulett 5-9, H.Patterson 1-5, D.Perez
0-1, P.Ali 0-1)
Duke (21-1, 5-1):
Player Pos Min Fgm-a Ftm-a Off Reb Ast PF Pts
Keenan Valenzuela C 32 3-5 4-4 0 10 2 3 10
Carlton Sandberg PF 30 3-4 2-4 1 4 1 0 8
Joseph Tu SF 20 3-6 0-0 0 4 4 4 6
Dean Davis SG 26 3-5 0-0 2 4 3 4 7
Orville Ayer PG 36 7-16 1-1 0 0 6 3 16
C. Johnson SG 14 2-6 2-4 1 2 2 1 7
Francis Neighbors SF 14 1-2 0-0 0 1 1 4 2
Thomas Burns SG 5 1-1 0-0 0 1 0 1 3
Clement Belton PF 14 2-3 2-2 1 6 0 1 6
Kelly Willams SF 4 1-1 3-4 0 0 1 0 5
Armando Hartsock SF 2 0-0 4-4 0 0 0 0 4
David Ware C 3 1-1 0-1 0 0 0 0 2
Turnovers: 13 (K.Valenzuela 3, C.Sandberg 2, J.Tu 3,
D.Davis 2, O.Ayer 1, C.Johnson 1, F.Neighbors 1)
Blocked Shots: 5 (K.Valenzuela 3, J.Tu 1, O.Ayer 1)
Steals: 4 (K.Valenzuela 1, D.Davis 1, O.Ayer 2)
3P FGs: 4-18 (K.Valenzuela 0-1, D.Davis 1-3, O.Ayer
1-10, C.Johnson 1-3, T.Burns 1-1)
Player of Game: SF Jack Dawkins (GW)