“I thought it was as high of a level of game as we've played.”
That was Jon Scheyer talking about Duke’s 85-78 win over top-seeded Miami Friday night in the ACC Tournament semifinals.
Truer words were never spoken.
Duke and Miami went at it like two thoroughbreds. Miami did more than enough to win but a Duke team that featured five freshmen playing 155 of 200 possible player minutes simply would not let them.
“Credit has to go to Duke's players,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said,” their ability to make those threes and dominate the back boards.”
Duke led the entire second half but never by more than eight points (46-38) and that lead dropped to two in a New York minute as Isaiah Wong and Wooga Poplar knocked down 3s barely two minutes into the second half.
Miami got thrown a curve ball barely a minute into the game when starting center Norchard Omier went down with an injury. Larranaga said after the game that it was a sprained ankle, not a broken ankle. But Omier was on crutches.
Larranaga made a great in-game adjustment, going smaller and quicker, pushing the ball on offense and pressing with fresh, quick athletes.
Duke broke a 7-7 tie with a 7-0 run, the final 3 from beyond the arc by Tyrese Proctor.
But Miami is too good to go away, like Pitt did yesterday. Specifically Wong is too good to let that happen. Maybe he isn’t an ACC Player of the Year in the mold of a David Thompson, Christian Laettner or Tim Duncan. But every single time he got his hands on the ball every single Duke defender was dedicated to stopping him and he still led everyone with 22 points.
Like his mentor, Jon Scheyer has compressed his rotation as the season has progressed. All five starters played at least 31 minutes, with Dariq Whitehead seeing the floor for 18 off the bench.
What important minutes those were. With Duke down 34-33, Whitehead was fouled on a 3-pointer and hit all three foul shots.
Duke never trailed again.
After Jordan Miller made it 38-36, Whitehead ended the first-half scoring with a 3-pointer and Duke went into the locker room up 41-36.
Duke did a lot of things well in that opening half.
Protecting the ball was not one of them. The Blue Devils coughed it up eight times, partially negating the advantages of hot shooting, good rebounding and Omier’s absence.
“I feel like the main thing is we had to settle down,” Whitehead said. “Coming into halftime, Coach got on us. He knew we had eight turnovers at the half, and that was his biggest thing coming into half, making sure we took care of the ball, and in the second half we did that. We came in and we were poised, we took care of the double-teams in the second half with Miami being long and athletic like you said.”
Duke only turned it over four times in the second half.
“Honestly, we tried to force more turnovers,” Larranaga said “and they did a good job of handling our pressure. We tried it full course, we tried it when they ran ball screens, we tried it on out of bounds. Some of what happens in the game of basketball is players recognize what the heck is going on. Our players did and really pulled together. Their players did, as well, and they really found the open man.”
Duke certainly could not afford to squander any possessions.
Duke led 46-38, 50-44, 52-46, 58-52, 60-55, 62-57, 64-59, 66-61, 73-67. But every time Miami absolutely needed a basket to maintain contact, they got one, usually Wong or Jordan Miller (17 points). But they had five guys in double figures, even with Omier on the bench.
By the same token, every time Duke needed a score to maintain control, they got one. The Blue Devils hit 55% from the field, 50% on 3s (8-16) and 84% (21-25 from the line).
Miami hit 41% from the field, 31% on 3s, 80% from the line and turned it over only eight times.
All this was against two good defenses playing with intensity and energy.
Point, counter-point. It was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time.
Miami’s best chances of seizing control came after Mark Mitchell put Duke up 66-61, with 8:17 left.
But Miami scored, got a stop and then an and-one by Miller made it 65-66. But he missed the free throw that would have tied it and then Miami missed 3s on consecutive possessions that would have given them the lead.
Whitehead again to the rescue. Again fouled on a 3-pointer, again three hits and Duke was up four.
“For him to have the success against this good of a team,” Scheyer said of Whitehead, “I'm not surprised, but I'm also proud of how he just stuck with it. And his teammates love him, we love him, and we've got more to do.”
That might have been the biggest play of the game for Duke. Or maybe it was a 3-pointer by Jeremy Roach that put Duke up 78-71, with 1:33 left.
“I felt good,” Roach said. “Just on that last play -- the last three I shot, it felt good so I really was trying to get another three up because I knew the next one was probably going to go in. Stick my follow-through and stick to the work and have that confidence that I've always had.”
Duke made its last five foul shots over the final 46 seconds before finally breathing a sigh of relief.
Duke placed five players in double figures. Kyle Filipowski had 17 points, 11 rebounds and five assists. Whitehead had 16 points, Tyrese Proctor 15 points and five assists, Mitchell 14 points and Roach 13 points. Dereck Lively had eight points, six rebounds and three blocks.
The win was Duke’s eighth straight and runs their record to 25-8.
“I think it's the belief that they instill in each other,” Scheyer said of his young but surging team. “It's the ownership they've taken. That's what happens. When you're on the floor -- I can only do so much. They have to be the ones out there doing it, and this guy to my left [Roach] has done it. He's grown in a big-time way being our leader, and these five freshmen that you mentioned have come along and done an incredible job in a big-time environment tonight.”
Title game tomorrow night at 8:30 against Virginia.
Great analysis, Jim. Definitely a very intense and high-level game. Love the fact that we seem to have learned to close out these hard fought games. Although we led the whole second half, to me it “felt like” we were teetering the whole way until the last minute or so. We almost certainly don’t hang on to win that one a few weeks ago. Lots of things to be happy about with the team’s development, but for me the biggest one is Proctor’s amazing maturation as a top-notch point guard and leader. He’s a special freshman in my view! Hope we can continue our clutch play to get the championship tonight!!
Championship Game at 8:30 pm so I will be taking a nap this afternoon.
The semi-final win over Miami was a tremendous ball game. Duke is playing good basketball at the right time of the season.