DURHAM – No. 24 Duke rallied from multiple 12-point deficits to defeat Pittsburgh, 77-69, on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils (13-4, 4-2) were led by freshman Kyle Filipowski, who scored a career-high 28 points and matched his career high with 15 rebounds. Two other freshmen joined Filipowski in double figures, with Tyrese Proctor logging 14 points and Mark Mitchell adding 10. Ryan Young grabbed 10 rebounds, reaching double-digits on the boards for the second time in four games.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Duke’s Kyle Filipowski opened the scoring, grabbing an offensive rebound and laying it in on the Blue Devils’ first possession of the night.
- A step-back three-pointer by Dariq Whitehead trimmed Duke’s deficit to just one, 13-12, at the 13:49 mark of the first half.
- The visitors used a 13-2 run to grab a double-digit lead, 26-14, halfway through the first 20 minutes of play.
- Jacob Grandison, Whitehead and Filipowski connected on three-pointers on three consecutive possessions to draw Duke within five points, 28-23, with 6:56 left in the opening half.
- The Panthers closed the frame on a 9-0 run and held an 11-point advantage at the break, 43-32.
- An old-fashioned three-point-play from Filipowski gave the freshman a new career-high with 21 points and narrowed the Blue Devils’ deficit to just five, 52-47.
- An 8-0 burst spanning just over two minutes of game time was capped off by a layup from Dereck Lively II and knotted the score at 52, forcing a Pittsburgh timeout with 10:24 left in the game.
- Filipowski finished off his seventh career double-double with his 10th rebound of the night, and Duke took its first lead since the 17:43 mark of the first half less than a minute later with a layup from Mark Mitchell.
- A made free throw by Pitt ended Duke’s scoring run at 15 unanswered points and trimmed Duke’s lead to 59-53 with seven minutes remaining.
- The Panthers made it a five-point game with three minutes to play, 69-64, courtesy of two made free throws.
- Duke made all four of their late-game free throws to secure the victory, 77-69.
NOTES
- Duke held a 51-28 rebounding advantage, including a 24-9 edge in offensive rebounds. It marks the 13th time in 17 games this season that Duke out-rebounded an opponent, including the ninth time by double figures.
- Duke’s +23 rebound margin was its highest in an ACC game since 47-24 (+23) vs. Florida State on Jan. 25, 2014.
- Duke recorded 20+ offensive rebounds for the fourth time this season – Duke hadn’t had a game with more than 19 offensive in any game over the previous two seasons.
- The 24 offensive rebounds by Duke were its most in a game this season, its most in any game since 30 vs. Georgia State on Nov. 15, 2019, and its most vs. an ACC opponent since 27 against Florida State on Jan. 25, 2014.
- Duke trailed by 11 at halftime, 43-32, making its largest halftime deficit overcome in a win since coming from 12 points down vs. Texas, 43-31, on Nov. 24, 2017, to win 85-78 at the PK80 in Portland.
- Duke allowed Pitt to score 43 points in the first half and held the Panthers to 26 in the second half, the 17-point difference from first to second half marked the team’s best since a difference of 19 versus Virginia Tech (41-22) on Dec. 6, 2019.
- Duke was 23-of-27 (.852) at the free throw line, marking the 10th time this season Duke has shot .800+ at the line.
- Freshman Kyle Filipowski scored a career-high 28 points and tied a career-high with 15 rebounds for his seventh double-double this season and his first 20-10 double-double.
- Filipowski’s 16 points in the second half were the most by a Blue Devil in the second half this season.
- Freshman Tyrese Proctor scored 14 points, was 5-of-5 at the free throw line and finished with five assists and no turnovers in 27 minutes.
- Freshman Mark Mitchell scored 10 points and a career-high nine rebounds while going 6-of-6 at the free throw line.
- Graduate Ryan Young scored seven points and pulled 10 rebounds, including a team-high seven on the offensive glass. It marked his seventh career 10-rebound game, including fourth this season.
QUOTES
- “Obviously tonight was a really tough ACC game. Jeff [Capel] had his team really ready to play, they compete. They’re really together. I thought they made some really difficult shots that knocked us back in the first half, and I’m just really proud of our team, the way we fought and competed in the second half. That, to me, is what it’s all about, being a Duke Basketball player, being a Duke Basketball team.” — head coach Jon Scheyer
- “Yes, I did play well but it was just so fun to be with my brothers out there. A bunch of other guys stepped up great at key moments of the game, too, and I was just feeding my energy off of them. We all were just reciprocating the energy. We just wanted to get this [win]. We were starting to take things more personal after all the battles we’ve been through, and I think that showed tonight but we’ve got to keep that going now. We can be a fantastic team if we play like that.” — freshman forward Kyle Filipowski
- “Especially with Jeremy [Roach] being out, on court I’ve got to be the leader – I’m playing point guard. He’s still impacting us off the court, grabbing guys through little bits of the game and just talking to us. But when I’m on the floor, I’m going to be the most vocal to everyone and just try to get everyone on the same page. The main message I was giving to them was don’t give up and keep fighting.” — freshman guard Tyrese Proctor
