Went to a brawl and a basketball game broke out?
Okay, low-hanging fruit. But Duke and Ohio State were called for 45 fouls Wednesday night in Cameron and there weren’t any cheapies.
And Duke’s freshmen did not back down. They answered blow for blow and knocked down 26 of 30 foul shots on the way to a crucial 81-72 win over Ohio State.
Duke fell behind 8-2 but Jake Grandison came off the bench and sparked a run that blunted that early Buckeyes start, scoring seven points in a span of less than two minutes.
“I probably didn’t play him as much as I should have on Sunday,” Scheyer said of Grandison. “But he keeps a positive attitude, comes back and has a heckuva game. He comes in and really gave us a big [jolt].
Duke took its first lead at 11-10 on a Grandison layup and the teams traded baskets for a while. Ohio State’s last lead was at 22-20. But Duke went on a 12-3 run to go up 34-25 and led 39-29 at intermission.
Scheyer said he liked the way his team responded to the Big Ten level of physicality.
“They responded. There are still some plays where we need to finish better through contact. When you get it right by the rim, you need to gather and take your time. But for all the time, their mindset is if you get knocked down, get back up.”
The second half saw Ohio State make run after run after run and Duke answered them all. Duke led by 13 but Ohio State put together a 12-4 run to make it 52-47, with 11:54 left. Back up to 10, back down to five but never any closer than five.
“I thought this was the best we managed the game,” Scheyer said. “We’re playing games and now we’re learning how to win games. When you have a lead you don’t play the same way if it’s a tie game or if you’re down.”
Jeremy Roach played through a painful toe injury and took over down the stretch.
“I didn’t want to lose this one. I was thinking about what happened last year (when Duke lost a late lead against OSU). I didn’t want the same thing to happen again this year.”
Roach scored eight points, with a rebound, a steal and three assists over the final 11 minutes.
And it may not seem like it but Duke’s defense was a key, maybe the key. Ohio State was 3 for 13 from beyond the arc, turned it over 16 times and had only six assists; Duke had 16 assists and 13 turnovers.
Ohio State coach Chris Holtmann said Duke’s defense “made it difficult for us to run offense. They really pressured us. I think that was the hard part. We had a really clean offensive game the last couple of games. I didn’t think we were as clean tonight. I didn’t think our decision making was what it needed to be.”
“I think the whole year defense has been our key,” Tyrese Proctor said. “I think tonight we did our job. We really had to lock in on every individual player because they’re all different.”
Roach added that Duke executed the plan to make OSU big man Zed Key (21 points, eight rebounds) work inside against Duke’s length while everyone else stayed home on their shooters.
Grandison wasn’t the only Big-Ten vet to help Duke off the bench. Both Dereck Lively II and Kyle Filipowski (16 points, seven rebounds, three steals) struggled with fouls but Young gave Duke a lift with 10 points and five rebounds, including an acrobatic offensive rebound in the second half when the game was up for grabs.
When Lively was on the floor he showed his developing game, 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in just under 18 minutes. Scheyer said Duke is still figuring out how to get the ball to Lively in the best position for him to score but it’s coming.
Roach ended with 13 points and five assists, Proctor 12 points, as Duke had five guys score in double figures. And Proctor was 6 for 6 from the line, putting him at 17 for 18 (94.4 percent) on the season.
Duke ended its ACC/Big Ten Challenge history with a sterling record of 20 wins and four losses, 10-1 in Cameron.
ACC play coming Saturday, Boston College the visitors. A chance to build on a very satisfying win.
Roach displayed strong leadership down the stretch. It was obvious he was in control of the team.
Balanced scoring and good defense against a good OSU team. On to ACC play.
GoDuke!