Duke basketball’s hot shooting allows Blue Devils to exact revenge on Virginia Tech
Duke is proving the three ACC losses it suffered in January were mere bruises rather than blows that knocked its season asunder.
The Blue Devils avenged one of those losses on Saturday night, unleashing a season-high 56.6% shooting to pound Virginia Tech, 81-65, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“I thought it was one of the best start to finishes that we’ve had,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said.
Last month’s league losses at N.C. State, Clemson and Virginia Tech continued to fall deeper into Duke’s past as the surging Blue Devils won their fourth consecutive game. Duke (21-8, 12-6 ACC) has won seven of its past nine games.
“You definitely want to be playing your best basketball this time of the year, so I’m happy for it,” Duke junior guard Jeremy Roach said. “We got a whole team healthy now and we’ve just got to keep it going.”
Even leading scorer Kyle Filipowski (12 points) having a relatively quiet night couldn’t slow down Duke. Roach paced five Blue Devils in double figures with 19 points to go with a career-best 11 assists.
Freshman forward Mark Mitchell scored 17 points with eight rebounds, while 7-1 freshman center Dereck Lively scored a season-high 13 points with seven rebounds and three blocked shots.
Tyrese Proctor added 10 points as the Blue Devils remained unbeaten in 15 games on their home court this season.
Duke reeled off 16 consecutive points early in the second half to open a 61-37 lead with 17:05 to play against a Hokies team that beat them 78-75 in Blacksburg, Va., on Jan. 23. Roach hit a pair of 3-pointers while scoring half of Duke’s points during that run.
“Jeremy Roach was on another level,” Scheyer said.
Virginia Tech (16-13, 6-12) shot 40.4% and saw the Blue Devils gain a commanding 37-26 rebounding edge.
“Really proud of just the edge we played with defensively,” Scheyer said.
From the game’s start, Duke played like it was angry for having lost to the Hokies in Blacksburg last month and had no intention of seeing its perfect record at home sullied.
The Blue Devils had scoring runs of eight and nine consecutive points during the game’s first seven minutes. Jacob Grandison’s 3-pointer with 13:07 left in the first half gave Duke a 19-5 lead. Seven different Duke players scored during that onslaught.
“I think we wanted to come out and punch them in the mouth early,” Mitchell said, “especially coming off how we lost them at Virginia Tech. We were ready to play and ready to go.”
Virginia Tech, after starting 1 of 7 from the field, climbed back into the game and cut Duke’s lead to six points. But the Hokies drew no closer the rest of the game.
With the Blue Devils up 37-30, Mitchell tipped in Dariq Whitehead’s missed finger roll shot. The Hokies missed two shots at the rim on their possession, with Ryan Young blocking one, before Roach sank a jump shot for a 41-30 Duke lead with 2:06 until halftime.
In taking a 43-32 halftime lead, Duke matched its season high for points in the first half. The Blue Devils shot 56.3% overall, sinking 4 of 10 3-pointers in the first half. Mitchell led the way with 11 points while also grabbing six rebounds.
The Blue Devils piled on from there to never let the Hokies back in the game.
This story was originally published February 25, 2023 at 10:10 PM.