Jeremy Roach leads balanced Duke attack as Blue Devils beat Louisville in ACC basketball
Duke’s balanced offensive attack produced a workmanlike win over last-place Louisville on Monday night.
Five Blue Devils scored in double-figures, led by Jeremy Roach’s 14 points, as Duke topped the visiting Cardinals, 79-62, in ACC basketball.
The Blue Devils (20-8, 11-6 ACC) won their third consecutive overall game while remaining unbeaten in 14 games at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Roach, Duke’s junior captain, scored 12 points in the second half when Duke led by as many as 17. He scored 10 points in the final 8:33, providing answers for the Blue Devils after Louisville repeatedly drew within 10 points.
“Jeremy, I didn’t think he got off to the best start,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “But he’s our guy. He just kept making the right play. By the end of the game, it really opened up for him. I thought it showed a lot of maturity on his part. He really came through especially down the stretch.”
Mark Mitchell and Kyle Filipowski each added 13 points, while Tyrese Proctor scored 12 points and Dereck Lively 10 for the Blue Devils, who shot 53.8% in the second half to finish at 49.2% for the game. Duke committed just six turnovers, its lowest total in an ACC game this season.
“We were just moving the ball so good and getting inside the paint that we were just getting buckets around the rim,” Filipowski said.
Durham native El Ellis scored 21 points for Louisville (4-24, 2-15) while JJ Traynor added 16 points. The Cardinals shot 42.6%
After scoring four points in the first half, Filipowski scored nine consecutive Duke points early in the second half as the Blue Devils built on their nine-point halftime lead.
A Dariq Whitehead 3-pointer at 15:10 ended Filipowski’s personal scoring streak and boosted the Blue Devils lead to 56-41.
The Duke lead grew to 17 when Jacob Grandison sank a 3-pointer at 13:41 putting the Blue Devils up 59-42.
The Cardinals chipped away at the deficit, drawing as close at 10 points five times in the final 10 minutes. But Duke, led by Roach, never let Louisville get within single digits again.
Despite a hot shooting start from Ellis, Duke took a 42-33 lead to halftime.
Ellis scored 11 of Louisville’s first 13 points, hitting his first three 3-point shots, helping the Cardinals take an early 18-9 lead.
Once Ellis and the Cardinals cooled off, the Blue Devils found their shooting touch and unleashed 13 consecutive points to take the lead for good.
“We’re definitely starting to reach another level,” Filipowski said. “Once we get a lead, expand that lead, and don’t give it back up.”
Lively’s two free throws started the surge, followed by 3-pointers from Proctor and Grandison. After two Mitchell free throws, Grandison sank a 3-pointer from the opposite corner as his first to give Duke a 22-18 lead.
Two Ellis free throws sliced Duke’s lead to 29-24 with 5:46 left until halftime. But Mitchell scored Duke’s next seven points. After his two dunks in transition, Mitchell rebounded a Proctor miss to score and draw a foul. His free throw gave Duke a 36-26 lead at 2:43 of the first half.
After starting 7 of 11 from the field, the Cardinals missed 10 of their next 12 shots to allow the Blue Devils to move in front. Louisville finished the first half shooting 46.2%.
The Blue Devils shot 45.5%, getting two 3-pointers each from Grandison and Proctor, in the first half.
This story was originally published February 20, 2023 at 9:01 PM.