Courtesy of GoDuke.com
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – No. 11 Duke (12-3, 3-1) made nine three-pointers en route to 48 first-half points and never looked back in a 75-53 win at Pittsburgh (10-6, 1-4) on Tuesday night. Kyle Filipowksi led all scorers with 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field and capped off his fifth double-double of the season with 10 rebounds.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Kyle Filipowski opened the scoring, with a tip-in on Duke’s second possession of the contest. A three-pointer by Jeremy Roach gave the Blue Devils a 9-4 lead at the first media timeout.
- Back-to-back long range buckets from Tyrese Proctor and Jared McCain out of the break opened up an eight-point margin for the Blue Devils at the 13:53 mark. Filipowski’s third basket of the game made it a double-digit lead for the first time, 19-9, two possessions later.
- A step-back jumper by the Panthers snapped an extended 13-2 run that had put Duke up by 13, 22-9. Filipowski then knocked down a three-pointer and Roach laid in his seventh point of the game, forcing a Pitt timeout at 27-11 with 7:44 left in the opening frame.
- Duke caught fire from beyond the arc out of the timeout, with Caleb Foster drilling two straight from distance before being joined by Filipowski on the next trip down the floor. The quick nine points pushed the Blue Devils’ advantage to 20, 36-16.
- The lead hovered around 20 for the remainder of the first half before reaching its first-half peak of 25, 48-23, right before halftime via Filipowski’s third three-pointer.
- Filipowski remained hot from the field into the second half, putting in his fourth three-pointer of the night at the 14:37 mark to push Duke ahead by more than 30, 59-28. A 14-2 run spanning nearly six minutes expanded the Blue Devils’ edge to 62-28 at the under-12 media timeout.
- McCain added a layup with just over 10 minutes to play and Filipowski scored his 24th point on mid-range floater less than a minute later before capping off his fifth double-double of the season on the offensive glass right before the under-eight media timeout.
- A 14-2 run by the Panthers narrowed the margin to 21, 68-47, with just over four minutes to play, before the Blue Devils closed out the 75-53 victory.
NOTES
- The Blue Devils held Pittsburgh to 53 points, the fewest points scored by a Duke opponent this season and the fewest points scored by the Panthers this season.
- Duke knocked down nine three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes – the most made by Duke from deep in any half this season, eclipsing the eight it had made in the second half against Bucknell (11/17/23) and Syracuse (1/2/24).
- The Blue Devils scored a season-best 48 first-half points, while holding Pittsburgh to its season-low for first-half points with 23.
- Duke’s defense also limited the Panthers to just 8-of-28 (.286) from the field in the first half, setting a new season-low for shooting percentage in a half by a Duke opponent.
- Duke’s defense held Pittsburgh to 53 points, 26.1 below its season average of 79.1 points. The Blue Devils have now held each of their 15 opponents below their respective scoring average.
- As a team, Duke out-rebounded Pittsburgh, 42-26. The +16 margin is Duke’s second-best margin on the glass this season, trailing only the +19 it had versus Bucknell.
- Kyle Filipowski amassed 26 points and 10 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and 21st of his career. The output was also his fourth 20-10 game of the campaign.
- Filipowski poured in 17 points on 7-of-8 (.825) shooting in the first half, including a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, matching the sophomore’s season-high for first-half points, which he first scored against Hofstra (12/12/23).
- The Westtown, N.Y., native finished with 26 total points on 11-of-12 shooting, aided by 4-of-4 from deep – matching his career-high for made three-pointers in a game.
- Filipowski’s efforts marked the best shooting performance by a Blue Devil with at least 10 attempts since Zion Williamson finished 13-of-13 against Syracuse on March 14, 2019.
- Jared McCain continued his stretch of scoring in double-figures, logging 12 points against the Panthers.
- The freshman has now scored at least 10 points in each of the last seven games and has made at least two three-pointers in each of those scoring efforts. Duke is now 11-0 when McCain drains at least two three-pointers.
- Caleb Foster distributed a career-best seven assists, while adding eight points.
QUOTES
- “I thought the story tonight was about our defense. I thought our defense was really good, probably the best we’ve played on that end. We defended, we rebounded and then for [Kyle Filipowski] to play that way, he’s a difference maker. When he plays that way for our team, it totally changes the dynamic of our offense and our defense. I don’t feel there’s really anybody like him in the country when he plays that way. Proud of the effort, proud of the game.” – head coach Jon Scheyer
- “There was something bigger than basketball tonight – it was an honor to share in the ‘Hoops for ALS’ with Jeff. His dad passed when we were on staff together at Duke and we talked about this in the summer. Just to raise awareness, ALS is a horrible, horrible disease. That was meaningful to share that with him tonight.” – Scheyer
- “I think we were just playing a lot more cohesively on the defensive end together. We were playing five guys, in tandem. Defense is not a one person job. And we had a different, more unique, defensive game plan for this game. And I think we executed it really well.” – Duke sophomore Kyle Filipowski
UP NEXT
- No. 11 Duke (12-3, 3-1 ACC) returns home from its two-game road swing, welcoming Georgia Tech (8-7, 1-3 ACC) to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 5 p.m. on the ACC Network.
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