Duke Missing Amile Jefferson More Than Coach K After Loss to Florida State

The loss wasn't a certainty until Tuesday night, but the groundwork for Duke's 88-72 defeat at Florida State was laid a few days earlier when its best interior defender limped off the court.

Since Amile Jefferson suffered a bone bruise to his right foot—the same one he broke in December 2015, causing him to miss the rest of last season—late in the first half Saturday against Boston College, it's been a major balancing act for the Blue Devils to play any sort of serviceable defense while maintaining their usual offensive efficiency.

It caused the BC game to go from a laugher to stressful down the stretch and made the already tough trip to Tallahassee, Florida, produce the Blue Devils' largest margin of defeat in nearly two years.

Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore noted Jefferson's absence: 

Jefferson's injury meant the Blue Devils had to use a seventh different lineup this season, one more than all of 2015-16. As CBS Sports' Matt Norlander noted, only twice has Duke had every one of its starters available to play in the same game.

It was also the Blue Devils' first road game without coach Mike Krzyzewski, who underwent back surgery last week. But, with the way Duke played on the defensive end, it probably wouldn't have turned out any differently had he been pacing the sideline instead of interim coach Jeff Capel.

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

The Blue Devils allowed ninth-ranked Florida State (16-1, 4-0 ACC) to shoot 53 percent, allowing 57.6 percent shooting in the second half as the Seminoles turned a four-point halftime edge into no less than a 10-point margin for the final 8:12. It was the fourth time Duke has allowed an opponent to shoot 50 percent this season, the others being their Champions Classic loss to Kansas as well as the ACC-opening setback at Virginia Tech and Saturday's BC game.

Boston College shot 55.9 percent and scored 48 points in the second half Saturday, and since Jefferson got hurt, opponents have outscored No. 7 Duke (14-3, 2-2) by 20 points.

Jefferson was averaging 13.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game with six double-doubles, and while others can make up for his scoring, the same can't be said for the rest of his production. The 6'9" senior forward had accounted for nearly 26 percent of Duke's defensive rebounds through the first 16 games. Without him Tuesday, it was outrebounded 38-30 and allowed 14 offensive boards to FSU. The Blue Devils hadn't yielded more than 12 offensive rebounds in a game this season.

Capel took note, per 247Sports' Brendan Sonnone:

Without Jefferson's disruption in and around the paint, the Blue Devils turned to freshmen Jayson Tatum and Harry Giles as well as sophomore Chase Jeter to pick up the defensive slack, but that trio failed. Tatum had 21 points but only four rebounds in 38 minutes, the fewest of his young career, while Jeter had six boards but only two on the defensive end in 25 minutes. Giles played just 10 minutes.

Credit goes to FSU, which has won the rebounding battle in 14 of 17 games and entered the contest eighth in the nation in field-goal percentage, but just as telling was how poorly Duke defended.

Date	Opponent	Margin of Defeat
Jan. 23, 2013	at Miami (Florida)	27
March 31, 2013	vs. Louisville (NCAA tournament)	22
Nov. 29, 2011	at Ohio State	22
March 3, 2012	vs. North Carolina	18
Tuesday	at Florida State	16
Jan. 13, 2015	vs. Miami (Florida)	16
March 24, 2011	vs. Arizona (NCAA tournament)	16
Jan. 30, 2011	at St. John's	15

So why is this any different from a year ago, when Jefferson missed the final 27 games yet Duke held opponents to 44.8 percent shooting in his absence? The 2015-16 Blue Devils still had Marshall Plumlee around to do all the dirty work, something they're lacking outside of Jefferson.

Marques Bolden might end up being that guy, as may Giles, but Bolden played only four minutes Tuesday, and at 7.2 minutes per game, he is yet to be trusted.

"When he's out, it changes some of the things we can do," Capel said Monday of Jefferson, per Yahoo Sports' Jeff Eisenberg.

When will Jefferson be back? This injury isn't as bad as the previous one, and it's possible he'll return for Saturday's game at No. 14 Louisville. Assuming Jefferson isn't out long, this latest hurdle can get lumped onto the pile with the rest of the issues Duke has dealt with this season.

Unofficially anointed the 2016-17 national champion before the campaign because of a seemingly endless supply of superstars, the Blue Devils have instead been a team unable to gain momentum. Be it injuries, suspensions or ailing coaches, almost every game has brought something different for Duke to deal with.

Until that stops, this team may never meet its vast potential.

All statistics courtesy of Sports-Reference.com, unless otherwise noted. 

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.