Red-hot shooting boosts Blue Devils. Three takeaways from No. 8 Duke’s win at Miami
No. 8 Duke’s prolific 3-point shooting and shutdown defense propelled the Blue Devils to a lopsided win and a share of the ACC lead on Wednesday night.
Duke tied a season high with 13 3-pointers, which were more than enough because the Blue Devils limited Miami to 31% shooting on the way to an 84-55 victory at the Watsco Center.
Winners of five consecutive games and 16 of their last 18 overall, the Blue Devils (21-5, 12-3 ACC) moved into a tie with rival North Carolina (20-6, 12-3) atop the ACC standings with five games to play before the league’s postseason tournament in Washington, D.C.
It was less than three weeks ago that Duke lost, 93-84, at North Carolina. But the Blue Devils haven’t lost since.
“I think just not giving up on each other,” Duke sophomore forward Kyle Filipowski said of the team’s mindset since that loss. “Staying the course with our big goal at the end of the season. We’ve been in a position like this before, but we know there’s still a lot more to accomplish and we’ve still got to set ourselves up for March.”
A Final Four team a year ago, Miami (15-12, 6-10 ACC) suffered its fifth consecutive loss as it struggled without injured guard Nijel Pack. The Hurricanes shot just 29% in the first half as the Blue Devils built a 40-23 lead at intermission.
Jeremy Roach hit four of Duke’s 3-pointers on the way to a team-best 16 points. Kyle Filipowski and Mark Mitchell each added 15 points as the Blue Devils shot 51.9% overall, while hitting 44.8% of their 3-pointers.
Blue Devils 3-point barrage
A solid 3-point shooting team for the season (37.6%, No. 20 nationally), the Blue Devils went through a slump earlier this month when they failed to hit at least 30% of them three times in a stretch of four games. That included a 5 of 19 night (26.3%) while losing at UNC on Feb. 3.
Duke hit 10 of 16 (62.5%) while beating Florida State on Saturday but that was mostly because Jared McCain made 8 of 11.
At Miami, though, Duke had multiple players turn in strong shooting nights. Roach’s four 3-pointers on six attempts led the way while Foster sank 3 of 6. Filipowski made 2 of 3 and Tyrese Proctor 2 of 6. McCain, after his record day against Florida State, made just 1 of 6 against Miami.
Duke hit 5 of its first 10 3-pointers against Miami, including a Proctor 3 and back-to-back 3-pointers from Caleb Foster during a 13-0 Duke first-half run.
Previously this season, the most 3-pointers Duke made against an ACC foe was 11 in a 75-53 win at Pittsburgh on Jan. 9.
Wednesday night was the second time this season Duke hit 13 3-pointers, having also done it in a 90-60 nonconference win over Bucknell on Nov. 17.
Locking down on defense
Miami’s 31.1% is the lowest shooting percentage for any ACC team against Duke this season. For the most part, Duke was effective keeping the ball out of the paint as well as staying with Miami’s perimeter shooters to force tough shot attempts.
“You have to guard the ball,” Scheyer said. “I know it sounds simple, but it just starts with guarding the ball. And you have to have great communication. We switched a lot tonight. You can switch when you have five guys that can defend and stay in front of the ball. But we had great communication.”
Proctor returns
After not making the trip to Tallahassee last weekend when Duke won 76-67 at Florida State, Proctor was cleared from concussion protocol and returned against Miami following a one-game absence.
He entered the game with 14:10 left in the first half and hit a 3-pointer at 10:08 that started a 13-0 Duke run. Proctor played 23 minutes, scoring 12 points on 4 of 9 shooting.
Having the 6-5 sophomore come off the bench has proven successful for the Blue Devils. This season, while opening with the starting five used against Miami (Roach, McCain, Flilipowski, Mitchell and Foster), Duke is 10-0 this season. In four of those games, of course, Proctor wasn’t in uniform due to injury. But he’s come off the bench in six other Duke wins.
This story was originally published February 21, 2024 at 9:16 PM.