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  • Jeremy Roach and Kyle FIlipowski Lead Duke To The Blue Devils 22 ACC MBB Title

Jeremy Roach and Kyle FIlipowski Lead Duke To The Blue Devils 22 ACC MBB Title

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Basketball

Duke used 20-point performances from Jeremy Roach and Kyle FIlipowski en route to its 22nd ACC title, defeating Virginia, 59-49, on Saturday night. The Blue Devils (26-8, 14-6) limited the Cavaliers to just 16-of-48 (.333) shooting from the field and forced 12 turnovers.

Roach ended the game with a career-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. The junior captain scored 19 second-half points, a season-high for any Duke player.

Filipowski logged his 16th double-double of the season with a 20-point, 10-rebound performance and was named ACC Tournament MVP after averaging 19.7 points, 7.0 rebounds while shooting 24-of-36 (.667) from the field.

Head coach Jon Scheyer becomes just the third head coach in ACC Tournament history to win a title in his first season, joining Duke's Vic Bubas and North Carolina's Bill Guthridge. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Duke scored six quick points off of layups from Jeremy Roach and Dereck Lively II while holding Virginia scoreless for the first three minutes of play. Kyle Filipowski got into the scoring column with a layup late in the shot clock to put Duke ahead, 8-3, with 15:33 on the clock.
  • Two free throws by Ryan Young gave Duke its largest of the game so far, 13-5, just over nine minutes into the contest. The Blue Devils took their first double-digit lead, 22-11, on a put-back layup by Filipowski with 2:23 remaining in the first half. Duke held Virginia to its lowest first-half scoring total since March 22, 2022, and remained in the lead at halftime, 24-17.
  • Jumpers by Roach on back-to-back possessions helped the Blue Devils extend their advantage, 31-22, at the first media timeout of the second half. A contested three-pointer by Roach pushed Duke's lead to 14, 36-22, with 14:35 left in the game. Virginia responded with five fast points to cut Duke's lead to single-digits, 36-27.
  • Both defenses continued to feature prominently, as the two teams combined to go scoreless for nearly nine minutes before a layup by Filipowski gave Duke an 11-point lead, 38-27, at the 9:19 mark. 
  • Following a three-pointer by Virginia, Proctor connected on a shot of his own from beyond the arc. Filipowski turned a steal into a breakaway dunk on the next possession and gave the Blue Devils a 43-32 lead, forcing a timeout by the Cavaliers. The freshman capped off another double-double after his 10th rebound of the game with 4:28 left in the game.
  • The Blue Devils kept their lead, 47-40, at the final media timeout of the game. Coming out of the timeout, Roach drilled a turnaround jumper and then converted a three-point play on Duke's next possession to make it a 52-43 game. Duke clinched the xx-xx win at the free throw line and secured its 22nd ACC title.

NOTES

  • Head coach Jon Scheyer becomes the first in conference history to win an ACC Tournament title as both a player (2009, 2010) and as a head coach (2023).
  • He is just the third head coach in ACC Tournament history to a win a title in his first season – Duke's Vic Bubas did it in 1960 and North Carolina's Bill Guthridge in 1998. Each of Bubas, Guthridge and Scheyer were in their first true head coaching seasons.
  • Duke is now 110-46 (.705) all-time in the ACC Tournament, including 22-13 in the championship round -- Duke's 110 wins and .705 winning percentage in tournament play each lead the ACC.
  • Duke's 22 ACC Tournament titles extend the Blue Devils' conference record.
  • Duke trailed for a total of 4:32 combined in the ACC Tournament – leading wire-to-wire in wins over Pitt and Virginia and trailing Miami early for 4:32.
  • Duke's current nine-game winning streak is a season long and is the team's longest winning streak since a nine-game streak in 2019-20.
  • Duke's nine-game winning streak is tied for the longest by a power conference team (Marquette).
  • Duke finished the ACC Tournament with 54 assists on 83 field goals – a 65.1 assist percentage.
  • Duke was 10-of-12 at the free throw in the game's final five minutes today. For the season, Duke is 96-of-120 (.800) at the line in the final five minutes.
  • Duke has now connected on at least one three-point field goal in 1,187 consecutive games – the nation's second longest active streak.
  • Freshman Kyle Filipowski finished the tournament with 59 points (19.7) and 21 rebounds (7.0) and shooting 24-of-36 (.667) from the field.
  • Filipowski was named Duke's ACC-leading 21st winner of the ACC Tournament MVP trophy, becoming the seventh freshman to win it and the first since Duke's Zion Williamson in 2019.
  • For Filipowski, it was his team-leading sixth game with three or more steals.
  • Duke had two players score 20+ points in the same game for the first time since a win at Pitt on March 1, 2022.
  • Roach was named First Team All-ACC Tournament along with Filipowski, while freshman Dereck Lively II was named to the Second Team.

QUOTES

  • "To share that together, going through this for the first time, and for the regular season to end this way with winning the tournament championship is really special. Along the way -- I'll tell these guys if we can ever get together, but just enjoy the wins along the way. Winning a championship is a special thing, so I want to enjoy this tonight. I want these guys to enjoy it. We'll figure out where we're going tomorrow and worry about that then." -- head coach Jon Scheyer
  • "I mean, our strength is playing inside-out and attacking on the closeouts, Jeremy and Tyrese did a really good job of that when we got inside and kicked it out. We just wanted to play the way we were and make a statement, of course, as we always do on the inside and on the glass." -- freshman Kyle Filipowski