Three takeaways from No. 21 Duke basketball’s win over Hofstra on Tuesday night
Kyle Filipowski responded to one of his worst scoring games with one of the most complete games of his Duke career Tuesday night.
Filipowski poured in 28 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and collecting eight assists as the No. 21 Blue Devils pulled away in the second half to beat Hofstra, 89-68, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
While making a serious run at a triple-double, Filipowski bounced back from Saturday’s 2-of-10 shooting performance, when he scored five points, in Duke’s 80-56 win over Charlotte. The 7-foot sophomore, a preseason All-American and ACC player of the year, made 10 of 16 shots, including 4 of 7 3-pointers against the Pride.
“To see Flip play that way,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, “He’s two assists away from a triple-double. He was just a force. They had to double him. When they didn’t, he really attacked the basket hard.”
Jeremy Roach added 19 points with eight assists, while Mark Mitchell scored 14 and Jared McCain 13 for Duke.
The Blue Devils (7-3) needed their efforts to finally subdue Hofstra (6-4).
The Pride hit 6 of their first 12 3-pointers and led 37-32 with 3:56 to play in the first half. But, after a timeout, the Blue Devils showed toughness at both ends of the court to reverse situation.
Duke outscored Hofstra 12-2 to close the half, turning that five-point deficit into a 44-39 lead. Filipowski got that run going, scoring inside and drawing fouls on consecutive Duke possessions.
Hofstra led 39-37 but Duke, using a four-guard lineup around Filipowski, scored the final seven points of the half on a McCain jumper, Roach’s drive for a layup and Caleb Foster’s 3-pointer.
Duke hit four 3-pointers over the first eight minutes after halftime to pull away from the Pride. Filipowski and Roach each hit two of them, with Filipowski zipping a pass out of a double-team to set up Roach’s 3-pointer with 12:11 to play that gave Duke a 62-48 lead.
Here are three takeaways from Duke’s win:
Duke finds 3-point touch
After failing to hit even 30% of their 3-pointers in three consecutive games, including losses at Arkansas and Georgia Tech, the Blue Devils continued strong shooting from the perimeter for the second game in a row.
Duke hit 11 of 22 3-pointers against Hofstra, including making seven in the second half. That’s after Duke hit 10 of 18 3-pointers on Saturday against Charlotte. That makes the Blue Devils, a 36.9% 3-point shooting team for the season, 21 of 40 (52.5%) over the last two games.
Filipowski (4 of 7), Roach (3 of 5) and McCain (3 of 4) led Duke against Hofstra.
Duke adjusts and its assists rise
The improved shooting has come as Duke has emphasized more passing. After a 72-68 loss at Georgia Tech on Dec. 2, Scheyer was critical of his team’s low assist rate (12 against Georgia Tech). The Blue Devils have handed out 37 assists over the last two games, including 22 against Hofstra.
“I just felt these last two games,” Scheyer said, “guys are just making the right pass.”
With the way teams were playing defense against the Blue Devils, Scheyer said needed to do a better job of putting his players in position to make those passes to get those baskets.
“I’ll take a lot of responsibility for that,” Scheyer said, “because teams have played us differently and I’ve had to do a better job of positioning them where their strengths are shown, but also with adjusting to what reads are there based on how teams are playing.”
Still no Proctor
Sophomore point guard Tyrese Proctor missed his second consecutive game due to the sprained ankle he suffered in Duke’s 72-68 loss at Georgia Tech on Dec. 2.
Neither Proctor, nor 7-1 sophomore center Christian Reeves (ankle), were in uniform for the Hofstra game. Averaging 10.3 points and 4.5 assists per game, Proctor had yet to miss a game in his Duke career until sitting out Saturday’s 80-56 win over Charlotte.
Scheyer said Proctor was on the court doing stationary shooting earlier Tuesday. He’s no longer using crutches to get around. But he’s not particularly close to returning, either.
“He’s progressing,” Scheyer said. “He really can’t explode at all. We’re going to be very cautious with him. He’s trying to do everything he can. He’s off the crutches, which is a great step. He was on the crutches for about a week or so. He’s able to do stationary shooting but really no movement at this point. He has to be able to do that for consecutive periods of time to even think about playing.”
In Proctor’s absence, Duke once again started freshmen guards Caleb Foster and McCain along with Roach in the backcourt. Filipowski and Mitchell manned the interior positions.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 9:00 PM.