Kyle Filipowski scored inside about seven minutes into Monday night’s game against Virginia Tech to give Duke a 14-13 lead it never gave up in a 77-67 win.
The win is Duke’s third straight and puts them at 16-4 overall, 7-2 ACC. Virginia Tech drops to 5-5 in conference play, with a daunting road trip awaiting them.
This was the ultimate trap game. Duke hitting the road on the back end of a Saturday/Monday turnaround in an arena historically difficult for Duke, with Duke’s biggest rival waiting this week screamed upset for the seventh-ranked Devils.
It was one of those games where Duke would have a mini-run to get some separation, then Tech would make a mini-run to close the gap but never catching up before a final Duke run salted it away.
It took Duke a few minutes to find their rhythm. Tech took a 4-0 lead in the opening 100 seconds. An M.J.Collins 3-pointer gave the home team their biggest lead at 11-6.
Filipowski and Caleb Foster kept Duke in it early, scoring Duke’s first 14 points. Foster eight, Filipowski six.
Foster wouldn’t score again after that early flurry. But those were big points for a Duke team that has struggled coming out of the gate in recent weeks.
Duke’s biggest first-half lead was 11 points, at 32-21.
But Duke got stuck on 32 points for over three minutes and Tech had a chance to tie at 32-29.
Robbie Beran missed and Duke extended the lead to six at 35-29 when Jeremy Roach hit a triple right before the buzzer after Filipowski rebounded Roach’s miss seconds before the half ended.
Roach didn’t start but he certainly looked better than he did Saturday against Clemson. In fact Duke’s senior leader knocked down 4 of 5 from beyond the arc for the game.
“Just trying to find a rhythm,” Roach said. “Obviously, had the injury last week but, no excuses. I saw some shots go through and I know that feeling last year that we had in Blacksburg, walking off this floor, just wanted to do anything I could to get the win. Doesn’t matter how I was feeling or anything like that, but just wanted to come out here with a win.”
Tech had another chance to tie at 40-37 but Collins missed a 3. Tech had the ball down 42-39 following a Roach charge but Collins turned it over. McCain buried a 3 in transition and Duke began to increase its lead to a margin never really comfortable until the final minutes but more than enough to escape with a win in an extremely hostile environment.
“Coming in, we all knew that it was one of the toughest road games in our conference,” Proctor said. “And our history hasn't been good here. But I think our mental preparation, obviously, we couldn't do a lot because we had a game on [Saturday], but just flushing that win against Clemson, that was a real nail-biter and coming out here and just competing every possession. I thought we did a great job on the scout and just guarded and rebounded and just pushed and played offense.
Duke did lots of things well. Duke shot 55.5 percent from the field and hit 9 of 17 from beyond the arc, while VT was 6 for 22. Tech star Sean Pedulla missed all six of his 3-pointers.
“They’re difficult to guard because of how well they shoot the three,” Scheyer said. “You have to pick your poison a little bit. Our thing was try to take away three’s as much as possible. Because of that, we gave up some drives and they got to the paint a little easier. Probably had some breakdowns guarding the ball, talking on switches, but I thought our communication for 40 minutes against these guys, one day prep, was terrific. It was as good of a turnaround that we’ve had, playing them in that situation.
“And then, we had resistance at our basket. They only got four offensive rebounds. To out-rebound them 38-20, I think that speaks to the level of fight and resistance that we played with.”
Duke lost the turnover battle 14 to 4 but compensated with a 38-20 rebounding advantage Scheyer referenced. Mark Mitchell had six turnovers. Ouch. But he also had eight rebounds. Not ouch.
Roach led everyone with 18 points (4 assists) and was joined in double figures by Filipowski (14 points, 8 rebounds), Proctor (12 points, five assists) and Ryan Young, with a big game off the bench, 10 points, five rebounds, a block and a dunk.
Scheyer called Young’s performance “terrific.”
Jared McCain only had nine points but grabbed 10 rebounds.
Collins had 17 points for Tech but only four after intermission. Hunter Catoor added 15.
“Ton of respect for Virginia Tech,” Scheyer summed up. “Ton of respect for the environment here. I think our guys – this is the reason you come to Duke. To play in environments like this. They were ready to play. I thought they did a great job focusing on what you can control. So often you can worry about a crowd, you can worry about what people are saying, and for our guys, they were just locked in on the game. The job that needed to be done. I’m proud of them for that.”
A great road win in a place that's been hard for Duke to come away with a win. Roach gutted it out and Young played great. Good article, Jim.
GoDuke!
A solid performance. The team demonstrated toughness.