ATLANTA – Duke finished with five players in double figures and secured a wire-to-wire victory over Georgia Tech, 86-43, on Saturday afternoon. The 43-point victory is the program’s second-largest ACC road win in school history and just the third 40-point ACC road win in school history. The Blue Devils (15-6, 6-4) were led by Kyle Filipowski, who scored a game-high 18 points in just 27 minutes.
Filipowski was joined in double-figures by Jeremy Roach (12), Mark Mitchell (11), Jacob Grandison (10) and Ryan Young (10). Dereck Lively II led the efforts on the boards with 10 total rebounds, including six offensive, to match career-highs in both total rebounds and offensive rebounds.
Duke led 43-25 at the break and posted another 43-point half in the second while limiting the Yellow Jackets (8-13, 1-10) to 18 after halftime. The Blue Devils shot a season-best .557 from the field and .391 from three-point in the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Junior guard Jeremy Roach opened the scoring for Duke with back-to-back three-pointers to give the Blue Devils an early lead, 6-2.
- Duke big men Dereck Lively II and Kyle Filipowski knocked down three-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor to extend the Blue Devils’ advantage, 16-7, forcing an early timeout by the Yellow Jackets at the 14:42 mark.
- The Blue Devils ramped up the intensity on the defensive end of the floor, holding the hosts without a made field goal for over three minutes. Duke opened up a double-digit lead for the first time, 19-9, during that stretch and remained ahead, 19-11, at the under-12 media timeout.
- A running floater by Filipowski stretched Duke’s lead to its largest of the first half so far, 29-16, and forced another timeout by Georgia Tech with 6:31 remaining in the first half.
- The freshman forward reached double-digits with a dunk late in the opening frame, his seventh game in a row with at least 10 points and 19th out of 21 games so far this season.
- Duke ended the first half on a 13-2 run over the final four minutes and made their final five shots of the frame. The Blue Devils scored their most points in a first half in ACC play and led by 18, 43-25, at the break.
- The Blue Devils stretched the scoring run to 19-2 spanning the halftime break, scoring the first six points of the second half before a three-pointer by Georgia Tech at the 16:33 mark.
- An offensive explosion by Duke extended the lead, 62-28, courtesy of another extended scoring run. Roach connected on back-to-back three-pointers to cap the 13-0 scoring burst, joining Filipowski in double-figures with 12 points.
- The Blue Devils made five of their final seven shots of the game, ending the contest on a 7-0 run to double-up the Yellow Jackets, 86-43.
NOTES
- Duke’s 43-point win at Georgia Tech, 86-43, stands as the second-largest ACC road win in school history. It is just the third 40-point ACC road win in school history along with a 46-point win at Virginia, 100-54, on Feb. 11, 1999 and a 42-point win at Wake Forest, 113-71, on Feb. 28, 1967.
- The 43 points allowed were Duke’s fewest allowed to an ACC opponent since a 57-43 win at Notre Dame on Jan. 31, 2022.
- Duke led 43-25 at halftime, its most points in an ACC first half this season (42 vs. Florida State on Dec. 31).
- Duke scored 43 points in each half and Georgia Tech’s 18 second-half points matched a season-low scored by a Duke opponent this season – 18 by USC Upstate (first half) and 18 by Jacksonville (second half).
- Georgia Tech’s 43 points were a season low — Duke has now held 18 of 21 opponents this season to below their season scoring average, including eight to its season-low for scoring.
- Duke held a 43-22 rebounding advantage, including a 13-5 edge in offensive rebounds. It marks the 17th time in 21 games this season that Duke out-rebounded an opponent.
- Duke shot .557 from the field for the game – a season-high field goal percentage.
- It was Duke’s first game with at least five players in double-figure points since the Ohio State win on Nov. 30.
- Duke finished with 24 assists on 34 field goals – its most assists in a game this season and most in a game since 24 vs. Syracuse in last year’s ACC Tournament.
- Duke has totaled 60 assists over the last three games.
- Duke has now connected on at least one three-point field goal in 1,174 consecutive games – the nation’s second longest active streak.
- Freshman Kyle Filipowski led five in double figures with 18 points and seven rebounds on 6-of-9 shooting.
- Junior Jeremy Roach scored 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a season-high 4-of-7 from three-point range.
- Freshman Mark Mitchell scored 11 points with six rebounds and a season-high four assists.
- Graduates Ryan Young and Jacob Grandison were the fourth and fifth Blue Devils in double figures with 10 points each.
QUOTES
- “Really proud of our team and our effort. We had a tough loss on Monday night and to have a really good week of preparation, we felt Georgia Tech’s a dangerous team, especially at home. And I thought it was probably the best collectively on defense that we’ve played. And then on the offensive end, to share the ball and get 24 assists, to hold them to 43 and then have 24 assists, really proud of this group and how we responded.” — head coach Jon Scheyer
- Us sharing the ball, that gives us confidence. And then when you see other people share the ball, that makes you want to share the ball. When you know a shot’s coming, when you know the ball’s coming to you, you’re going to be more prepared for the shot, more ready for the shot and also you’re probably going to make the shot.” — junior guard Jeremy Roach
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