Virginia Tech beats Duke 78-75, snaps 7-game slide

Associated PressJan 24, 2023, 12:11 AM EST

Lee Luther Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

BLACKSBURG, Va. – Grant Basile scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half, Sean Pedulla had 16 points and five assists and Virginia Tech beat Duke 78-75 on Monday night to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Virginia Tech (12-8, 2-7 ACC) hadn’t won since topping Grambling on Dec. 17. The Hokies are now 5-1 in their last six match-ups with Duke at Cassell Coliseum.

After a timeout with 35.3 seconds remaining, Virginia Tech dribbled down the clock before Michael Collins Jr. made a jumper from the free-throw line for a 77-75 lead. Duke’s Tyrese Proctor was short on an open 3-pointer and Collins was fouled. Collins made 1 of 2 at the line with 3.9 seconds to cap the scoring.

Duke attempted a half-court pass, but Virginia Tech guard Hunter Cattoor intercepted it and ran out the clock.

Cattoor finished with 15 points, on five 3-pointers, and two steals for Virginia Tech. Collins had six points.

Kyle Filipowski scored a career-high 29 and recorded his 10th double-double this season with 10 rebounds for Duke (14-6, 5-4). Proctor and Dariq Whitehead added 10 points apiece. Whitehead missed most of the second half with an apparent leg injury and was on crutches at the end of the game with a wrap around his lower left leg.

Duke went four-plus minutes without a field goal late in the second half, making just two of its final 10 shots. Proctor drained a 3-pointer with 38.9 seconds left, snapping a string of six misses from distance for Duke, to tie it at 75-all.

Both teams play again on Saturday. Virginia Tech hosts Syracuse and Duke plays at Georgia Tech.

Smith, Joiner help NC State roll past No. 16 Duke 84-60

Associated PressJan 4, 2023, 11:48 PM EST

Jaylynn Nash-USA TODAY Sports

RALEIGH, N.C. – Terquavion Smith scored 24 points and North Carolina State jumped all over No. 16 Duke from the opening tip, rolling to an 84-60 win on Wednesday night in the long-running series between Atlantic Coast Conference neighbors.

Jarkel Joiner added 21 points, nine assists and six rebounds for the Wolfpack (12-4, 2-3 ACC), who scored the game’s first 15 points and led by 22 by halftime in a shocking romp.

While the Wolfpack pounced, the Blue Devils (11-4, 2-2) watched early shots roll off the rim or be swatted away. They compounded their problems by piling up turnovers in a game that quickly got away.

N.C. State shot 47% and made 10 3-pointers, nine coming from its its dynamic backcourt duo. More impressively, the Wolfpack scored 30 points off turnovers on a night that Kevin Keatts’ squad repeatedly pushed the tempo.

One highlight came when Joiner hit a corner 3-pointer just before the halftime horn with Duke’s Jeremy Roach defending on his hip. Joiner gave a yell toward the courtside fans, then giddily backed away to join his teammates heading to the locker room with a 44-22 lead.

And early in the second, Joiner and Smith got loose together in transition. First Joiner hit Smith for a right-wing 3-pointer on the break, then did it again – only this time falling to the court while delivering the pass.

No matter. Joiner still raised both arms while laying on his back near the baseline as though signaling the shot was good as it swished through the net. By that point, the Wolfpack led 54-28 with 17:05 left and never let Duke closer than 22 again.

Freshman Kyle Filipowski scored 14 points to lead Duke, which shot 40% and just 5 of 15 from 3-point range. Duke also committed 21 turnovers, many fueling the Wolfpack’s 25 fast-break points.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: It was a jarring result for the Blue Devils in a year of change, from Jon Scheyer in his debut season as the successor to retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski to a roster with 11 new players and the nation’s No. 1-ranked recruiting class. But the Blue Devils never looked comfortable, confident or capable of consistently creating quality looks as the deficit ballooned. It amounted to a second rough showing on the road, the other coming in a loss at Wake Forest a few days before Christmas.

N.C. State: This one can ease some of the frustration amid ACC losses to now-No. 12 Miami, Pittsburgh and Clemson. Smith and Joiner showed their potential to impose their will from the wings. More impressively, the Wolfpack did this without starter and team rebounding leader Jack Clark, who is out indefinitely after suffering a core muscle injury late last week at Clemson.

UP NEXT

Duke: Plays a second straight road game, traveling to Boston College on Saturday.

N.C. State: Visits Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Young paces No. 17 Duke past Florida State, 86-67

Associated PressDec 31, 2022, 5:20 PM EST

Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

DURHAM, N.C. — Ryan Young’s best performance in a Duke uniform looked almost perfect.

Young came off the bench for a season-high 20 points, going 7 for 7 from the field, and the No. 17 Blue Devils beat Florida State 86-67 on Saturday.

Young, a graduate transfer from Northwestern, had 12 rebounds and added to the quest for perfection by making all six free-throw attempts.

“I’m sure I’ll find something he could have done better, but he was pretty close,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.

Jaylen Blakes scored 17 points in his first career start and reserve Dariq Whitehead added 16 points for Duke (11-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference), which is undefeated in eight home games.

Young deflected credit for his stellar outing.

“The guards were finding me in easy places to score,” he said.

Caleb Mills and Matthew Cleveland both scored 18 points and Darin Green Jr. added 16 for Florida State (4-11, 2-2), which remains winless in seven games away from home.

Even without retired Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski on the Duke bench, the Blue Devils looked familiar to veteran Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton.

“Credit to (Scheyer) to get his guys to play the Duke way,” he said. “I didn’t see any difference from the way they played in the past.”

Blakes, a sophomore, had four of the 11 baskets from 3-point range for Duke, which was playing for the first time since a Dec. 20 loss at Wake Forest.

“They knew we had to be a lot better,” Scheyer said of his players after a holiday break. “I didn’t have to convince them of that.”

The Seminoles got to within 64-53 with less than nine minutes to play before the margin ballooned to 25 points.

“Hopefully, we can learn from this,” Hamilton said. “Learn what it takes to go out and play against a team that is extremely aggressive like this.”

Duke used a 10-0 run near the midway mark of the first half and led 42-25 at halftime behind 12 points from Young and 11 from Blakes. Three of the Blue Devils’ starters didn’t score in the first half and another, Jeremy Roach, was 1 for 7 from the field.

The Seminoles had their second-lowest first-half point total of the season.

“Our guards were doing a tremendous job of keeping them out of the paint and turning defense into offense,” Young said.

DEPTH FINDERS

A lineup tweak worked out for the Blue Devils. Blakes matched his career-high point total from the Wake Forest game.

“It’s an honor (to be a starter),” he said. “We’re all just building off each other. Whatever five guys are out there, we’re confident in.”

Scheyer said lineup adjustments shouldn’t be a surprise.

“We’ve used our depth as a strength and I don’t see that changing,” he said.

BIG PICTURE

Florida State: The Seminoles were competitive for stretches but had gaps in defensive rebounding that proved costly. They got only eight points from reserves while Duke posted 46 points from its bench players.

Duke: The Blue Devils were aggressive from the start and yet they needed boosts from the reserves. They had their most bench points in an ACC game since February 2005 vs. Wake Forest. This was just Duke’s second game since Dec. 10, but there will be a steady diet of games for the rest of the season.

TIP-INS

Blakes took freshman Tyrese Proctor’s place in Duke’s starting lineup. . Hamilton was going for his 400th win while in charge of the Seminoles and his 600th overall. . Cleveland’s 10 rebounds gave him a double-figure total in five of the last six games. . Florida State hasn’t won at Cameron Indoor Stadium since January 2012.

UP NEXT

Florida State: Hosts Georgia Tech on Saturday.

Duke: At North Carolina State on Wednesday.

Taylor, Duke’s perimeter shooting upend No. 6 N.C. State

Associated PressDec 30, 2022, 4:49 PM EST

William Howard-USA TODAY Sports

RALEIGH, N.C. – Celeste Taylor helped Duke to its most significant victory in coach Kara Lawson’s three seasons.

Taylor scored 23 points, including a big 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, and the Blue Devils beat No. 6 North Carolina State 72-58 on Thursday night.

“We kept our composure when they went on runs,” Lawson said. “We just stayed focused and stayed locked in and didn’t allow the emotions of the game to take over our execution.”

Elizabeth Balogun had 16 points for the Blue Devils. Shayeann Day-Wilson and Kennedy Brown each scored 10 points.

Duke (12-1, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) went 9 for 14 on 3-pointers in its seventh straight victory. Reigan Richardson’s 3 stretched the lead to 66-56.

“To see it all work out for us is pretty good,” Taylor said. “Conference play starts and you have to get after it. You have to fight harder.”

N.C. State had won 19 straight ACC games at Reynolds Coliseum. The last conference school to win on the Wolfpack’s court was Duke on Feb. 24, 2020.

Saniya Rivers had 17 points for N.C. State (11-2, 1-1), which had won seven straight games this season. Jakia Brown-Turner scored 12 points and Aziaha James had 10.

“They came in here and just, in simple terms, kicked our butts,” N.C. State coach Wes Moore said. “They took us out of anything we wanted to do offensively. … Duke just came in here and took it.”

N.C. State trimmed Duke’s 14-point lead to 50-44 by the end of the third quarter.

Taylor’s 3 pushed the Blue Devils in front 59-50 near the midway mark of the fourth. She was 5 of 6 on 3s and had a game-high eight rebounds.

Duke finished 15 for 15 on free throws, including 10 attempts in the fourth quarter.

“You’ve got to get those free ones,” Lawson said.

Duke outscored North Carolina State 24-4 across the final seven minutes of the first half for a 35-23 edge. The Blue Devils were 6 for 9 in the first half on 3-pointers.

“We had a chance to guard them,” Moore said. “It wasn’t like we were playing `Horse.”‘

N.C. State used a 13-0 stretch spanning the first and second quarters for a 19-10 lead.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: The Blue Devils overcame early shooting woes and had the Wolfpack’s defense off balance by the end because of their perimeter shooting. The Blue Devils were rarely rattled despite a difficult road atmosphere, improving to 5-0 in true road games this season.

N.C. State: The Wolfpack had spans when the offense didn’t flow well and that was costly when trying to keep up with Duke’s timely shooting. N.C. State’s 18 turnovers also prevented a comeback and the full-court press didn’t do much to disrupt the Blue Devils. The Wolfpack managed only five assists.

WORTH NOTING

N.C. State played its third full game in a row without scoring leader Diamond Johnson (13.9 points per game), who sustained an ankle injury Dec. 11 vs. South Florida. … Duke also beat a top-10 N.C. State team on the road in February 2020 for its last win against the Wolfpack. … The lone losses for both teams this season entering the game came against Connecticut.

UP NEXT

Duke: Hosts Louisville on Sunday.

N.C. State: Sunday at Syracuse.

No. 8 Duke locks down late, holds off Xavier 71-64

Associated PressNov 25, 2022, 11:29 PM EST

Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports

PORTLAND, Ore. – After a shaky offensive performance in the opening round of the Phil Knight Legacy tournament, Duke coach Jon Scheyer wanted to see Jeremy Roach get back to playing more instinctively, especially at the offensive end of the floor.

Roach responded with a season-high 21 points, Mark Mitchell added 16 and No. 8 Duke withstood Xavier’s second-half comeback for a 71-64 win on Friday.

The Blue Devils (6-1) advanced to the championship game thanks to the play of their standout guard and another strong defensive effort. Roach came one point shy of matching his career high, and the Blue Devils rebounded after an unexpectedly tight victory over Oregon State in the opening round of the event.

Roach was 3 of 14 shooting against Oregon State as the Blue Devils scored a season-low 54 points. He made 9 of 15 shots and had five assists against Xavier.

“There’s a lot that falls on your shoulders so you can end up overthinking it a little bit,” Scheyer said. “The thing that I love for him today is he just was him. And when he’s that way, he is to me the best guard in the country.”

The Musketeers (4-2) were held to two points over the final five minutes and missed their last four shot attempts. Souley Boum scored 23 points and Adam Kunkel had 13. Kunkel didn’t play the last 11 minutes after taking a hard fall committing a foul.

Xavier leading scorer Jack Nudge was 1 of 13 shooting and finished with five points.

“Jack played a great effort. He really did. He was ready for the game. He just had one of those nights where the ball didn’t go in the basket,” Xavier coach Sean Miller said.

At the same time, Miller was disappointed in what he called the “fracturing” he saw from his team.

“There were spurts and segments of the game where I thought we reflected our style, how we’re trying to play, whether it be defense and offense. But there were way too many segments of the game, if not most of the game, where we were at times in our own way,” Miller said.

Mitchell scored seven points in the opening minutes of the second half, including a pair of layups, and he hit a 3-pointer from the wing that gave Duke a 49-36 lead, its largest of the game.

That’s when Xavier’s comeback started. The Musketeers pulled within three points on several occasions, but Duke answered each time. Desmond Claude’s driving layup pulled Xavier within 63-60 with 5:51 left, but Ryan Young scored for Duke and Xavier didn’t make another basket.

Roach’s jumper with 2:40 left pushed Duke’s lead to 69-62.

“We like to play inside out but I mean, when guys are hitting shots it just opens up for everybody else,” Roach said. “Just try to continue to be consistent hitting shots and I think we’ll be fine.”

Kyle Filipowski had 12 points and was not Duke’s leading scorer for the first time in five games.

BIG PICTURE

Duke: The Blue Devils’ dominance on the backboards finally came to an end. Duke had outrebounded each of its first six opponents by double figures, the longest such stretch in school history. But Xavier’s interior size limited Duke to a 33-32 advantage on the glass. The Blue Devils had 12 second-chance points.

Xavier: The Musketeers played an Atlantic Coast Conference team for the first time since beating Virginia Tech in last year’s NIT Season Tip-Off. Xavier dropped to 0-2 against ranked opponents this season, having lost to Indiana last week. The Musketeers will play another ranked foe in Sunday’s third-place game.

UP NEXT

Duke will face the Gonzaga-Purdue winner in the championship game on Sunday, while Xavier will play the loser.

Kyle Filipowski paces No. 8 Duke past Bellarmine 74-57

Associated PressNov 22, 2022, 12:03 AM EST

Getty Images

DURHAM, N.C. – Over and over, No. 8 Duke went outside at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Kyle Filipowski scored 18 points to lead Duke in scoring for the fourth time this season in a hard-earned 74-57 win over Bellarmine on Monday night.

More than half of Duke’s points came on 3-pointers.

“We get up a lot of those shots here in Cameron,” guard Jeremy Roach said. “I think it’s a normal thing. We knew their defense was going to cover the paint, so we wanted to be shot ready.”

The Blue Devils (4-1) had five players with at least two 3-pointers as part of a 14 for 35 team effort from beyond the arc.

Jacob Grandison scored 16 points off the bench on 4 for 6 shooting on 3s and Roach provided 10 points for the Blue Devils. Filipowski shot 3 of 5 on 3-pointers.

“When you take the right shots, they’re going to go in,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “We had great quality in our shot selection.”

Duke’s 3-point shooting didn’t surprise Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport, who said the Blue Devils’ 15-2 edge in second-chance point was equally as troubling.

“You pick your poison,” he said. “Give them credit, they made the shots.”

Curt Hopf and Juston Betz both scored 11 points for Bellarmine (2-3), which was within 12 points with about eight minutes to play.

“We moved forward the last two hours,” Davenport said. “My perspective (is) the moment we started our pregame shooting until the horn sounded was a great example of what our program is about. We competed. We played for each other.”

Duke has won twice at home since last week’s four-point setback to unbeaten Kansas in Indianapolis.

The Blue Devils shot 52% from the field in the first half and led 41-33, with the lead trimmed in half in the final seven minutes after being up by 16.

Duke hit six 3s among its first nine field goals on the way to a 25-12 lead. By then, the Blue Devils understood the ideal approach to identifying good shots.

“One less dribble and find that (teammate),” guard Tyrese Proctor said.

Five Blue Devils hit 3s across the first eight minutes of the second half.

Duke had 18 assists on its 25 field goals and a season-low eight turnovers.

“I thought we had some really unselfish plays sharing the ball,” Scheyer said. “It’s going to be the recipe for us going forward.”

BIG PICTURE

Bellarmine: The Knights showed good discipline in working the shot clock and often ended up with quality shots. But they didn’t have enough answers at the defensive end to pull off an upset.

Duke: The Blue Devils launched lots of 3-point shots, but they were generally in good position for most of those. They were forced to play some hard minutes on defense and generally proved up to the task. This was by far the closest of their four home games this season under first-year coach Jon Scheyer.

TIP-INS

This was Bellarmine’s third game against an Atlantic Coast Conference team, beating Louisville and losing at Clemson. The Knights have visits to UCLA and Kentucky lined up before the end of November. . This was Duke’s first game with more than 10 successful 3-point shots. The Blue Devils combined for nine 3s in their last two games.

UP NEXT

Bellarmine: at Loyola Marymount

Duke: Thursday vs. Oregon State in Phil Knight Invitational (in Portland, Oregon).