Duke basketball closes out Miami in second half to reach ACC tournament final
The shot clock winding down and his team protecting a slim lead, Duke’s Jeremy Roach summoned some March magic and helped put away No. 14 Miami on Friday night.
A junior guard who hit big shots during Duke’s Final Four run last spring, Roach’s 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 1:32 to play gave the No. 21 Blue Devils a seven-point lead, and they defeated Miami, 85-78, in the ACC tournament semifinals at Greensboro Coliseum.
No. 4 seed Duke (25-8), riding an eight-game winning streak with wins in 11 of its past 13 games, advanced to Saturday night’s ACC tournament championship game to face No. 2 seed Virginia.
Having led the entire second half and the final seven minutes of the first half, Duke held a 75-71 lead with the clock ticking below two minutes. Just before the shot clock expired, Roach drilled a 3-pointer giving Duke a 78-71 lead with 92 seconds to play.
The lone starter returning from last season and the only non-freshman to play for Duke over the final seven minutes against Miami, Roach confidently received the ball and took the shot despite having only hit two of his first eight in the game.
“I really was trying to get another three up because I knew the next one was probably going to go in,” Roach said. “Stick my follow-through and stick to the work and have that confidence that I’ve always had.”
It’s the kind of play Roach routinely delivered last March when he made the all-West Region team during the NCAA tournament.
“Huge,” Duke freshman guard Tyrese Proctor said. “It gave everyone confidence and sort of a relief, I guess, because they weren’t going to go away.”
The top-seeded Hurricanes certainly did not.
After Nijel Pack scored Miami, Dariq Whitehead’s layup at 1:02 gave Duke an 80-73 lead. Miami pushed back when Anthony Walker scored, drew a foul from Kyle Filipowski and hit a free throw with 53.9 seconds left.
But with Duke struggling to advance the ball over half court against Miami’s press, Mitchell was fouled. He split two free throws and Duke led 81-76 with 46.6 seconds to play.
The Hurricanes missed two shots on their end and Roach, after being fouled with 30.7 seconds left, hit two free throws giving Duke a comfortable 83-76 lead.
Only then could the Blue Devils feel comfortable.
“Really proud of our team,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I think it shows our growth to be in a big-time battle like this where there’s not that separation. We weren’t going to be able to pull away.”
The Blue Devils had five players score in double figures, led by Filipowski’s 17 points. Whitehead added 16 while Proctor had 15, Mitchell 14 and Roach 13. Duke shot 54.9% and made 50% of its 3-pointers (8 of 16).
“You have to understand,” Miami coach Jim Larranaga said, “because of our size, or lack of it, we’re trying to take care of the paint and keep those big guys out of there. Very difficult for us to do both all the time. We did it well enough to stay in the game, but basically just not quite good enough to win the game.”
ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong scored 22 points to lead the top-seeded Hurricanes (25-7). Jordan Miller scored 17. The Hurricanes played without rugged 6-7 forward Norchad Omier, who averages 14 points and 10 rebounds per game. He sprained his ankle 66 seconds into the game and did not return.
Duke hit seven of its first 13 shots in the second half, including a trio of 3-pointers, but Wong was able to keep Miami close as the Blue Devils led 60-57 with 10:38 to play.
Wong tallied 12 points over the half’s first 10 minutes, scoring in a variety of ways with pull-up jumpers, 3-pointers and driving to draw a foul and hitting free throws.
One day after torching the nets with its best shooting day of the season, Duke made 57% of its first-half shots to take a 41-36 halftime lead.
Whitehead scored eight points in a reserve role while Mitchell scored seven points.
Miami hit 48.4% of its first-half shots as Miller tallied nine points.
Duke led 14-7 only to see Miami score nine consecutive points. When the Blue Devils built a 29-24 lead on Mitchell’s basket with 5:06 to play in the half, an 8-2 Hurricanes run put Miami up 32-31 on a Bensley Joseph layup.
But Duke closed the half on an 8-2 run as Whitehead drew a foul and hit three free throws to give Duke the lead. Dereck Lively’s rebound slam dunk off a Proctor miss extended Duke’s lead to 38-34. Whitehead drilled a 3-pointer with 37.4 seconds to go until halftime giving Duke a 41-36 lead.
This story was originally published March 10, 2023 at 9:17 PM.