A.J. Griffin incurred the ire of coach Mike Krzyzewski when he passed on an open 3-pointer late in the No. 7 Blue Devils’ tight game at Virginia.
“What are you doing? Just shoot. Like, you should shoot all the time, whenever you get it, and you next shot is the first shot” Krzyzewski said he told Griffin, a freshman and one of the top long-distance shooters in the country.
Griffin, who had missed seven of eight shots, got the message. He hit back-to-back 3-pointers and then scored on a drive, helping Duke hold on for a 65-61 victory Wednesday night.
“We have confidence that his next shot’s going to go in,” Krzyzewski said of Griffin, who has made 50 of 104 3-point tries this season. “Three of his next shots went in in the last four minutes and God Bless.”
Griffin’s first 3 gave the Blue Devils (24-4, 14-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) a 55-51 lead with 3:39 to play. His next one made it 58-53 with 2:41 left, and his driving basket made it 60-55 with just over two minutes to play. Trevor Keels’ basket with 56 seconds left and and a free throw were just enough to finish it.
