DURHAM – No. 17 Duke opened its ACC schedule on Saturday afternoon with a 75-59 win over Boston College at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Freshman Mark Mitchell led the Blue Devils (8-2, 1-0) with 15 points while classmate Kyle Filipowski secured his fifth double-double with 13 points and 10 boards.
Duke led 35-23 at the half and the Eagles (5-4, 0-1) got no closer than 10 at 47-37 in the second half as Duke won its ninth straight ACC opener. Nine different Blue Devils scored in the game and graduate Jacob Grandison was the third in double figures with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists off the bench, Defensively, Duke held its sixth opponent in 10 games this season to less than 60 points.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Two of Duke’s first three baskets were dunks by Dereck Lively II.
- The Blue Devils opened up their first double-digit lead of the afternoon, 28-18, with a Tyrese Proctor layup at the 4:02 mark.
- Duke’s defense limited Boston College to just .273 overall from the field in the first half, to take a 35-23 lead into the locker room.
- Boston College drew within 10, 47-37, with 12:44 remaining in the game.
- Duke promptly went on an 11-0 run to grab its largest lead of the game, 58-37.
- Mark Mitchell scored seven straight points for the Blue Devils over a span of 90 seconds to give Duke a 71-50 advantage at the final media timeout.
GAME NOTES
- Duke is now 52-18 all-time in ACC openers, has won five straight. At home in an ACC opener, Duke is 37-6 all-time.
- The game was the 30th in the series versus Boston College, with Duke now leading 27-3. At Cameron Indoor, the series favors Duke, 13-0.
- In ACC regular-season games, the series favors Duke, 20-2.
- Duke held Boston College to 59 points, making them the sixth opponent this season to score less than 60 and the eighth to score less than 70.
- BC shot .273 from the field in the first half (9-of-33), the lowest in a half by a Duke opponent this season. Previous low was .286 by USC Upstate on Nov. 11.
- Duke held BC to 23 points in the first half – its 12th time in 20 halves of play this season to hold an opponent to under 30 in a half.
- Duke finished with 19 assists on 28 made field goals (.679) and has assists on 35 of 53 field goals over the last two games (.660).
- Duke has now connected on at least one three-point field goal in 1,163 consecutive games – the nation’s second longest active streak.
- Duke’s next game comes Tuesday vs. Iowa at Madison Square Garden, where the Blue Devils are 39-18 all-time in the current version of MSG – a building Duke has won five straight, six of the last seven and 10 of the last 13.
- Filipowski recorded his fifth double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in 25 minutes.
- He leads all freshmen nationally with his five double-doubles – tied for second nationally overall.
- Filipowski has scored 10+ points in every game this season.
- Mitchell scored a team-high 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting, including 2-of-2 from three-point range.
- It marked the first time Mitchell led the team in scoring since the season opener vs. Jacksonville.
- Grandison was the third Blue Devil in double figures with 10 points, six rebounds and three assists in 22 minutes.
- Sophomore Jaylen Blakes played 24 minutes – one shy of his career high – and recorded a career-high five assists and no turnovers and posted a team-leading plus/minus of +16.
- Freshman Tyrese Proctor scored nine points with two rebounds, three assists and no turnovers.
- Over his last three games, Proctor has scored 37 points (12.3 per game). He scored 38 over his first seven games this season (5.4).
QUOTES
- “Really proud of our team. Great to get our first ACC win. Boston College, they’re still getting healthy; they’re a little beat up. Proud of the overall effort, our defense was really good. Finally, we could string some stops together, and that translated into some good offense for us.” — head coach Jon Scheyer
NEXT GAME
- Duke faces Iowa on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic. The game tips at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
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