Virginia Tech has always been a place where as fans we often just concede that Duke is going to play mediocre and Virginia Tech is going to look like the 1991 Chicago Bulls. It’s a tough place to play, probably lately much more difficult than Cameron. Duke’s all time record in Cassel is just 7-7 including 2 straight losses on the road. New team who dis? This game would be different. Duke seemed to enter this game in a business-like fashion. Playing efficient offense in the first half (when they weren’t turning the ball over). The turnovers did affect Duke’s ability to keep a substantial lead that had ballooned to 11. An 8-2 run with a minute left in the second half cut the Duke lead to 3 but relocation 3-pointer from Jeremy Roach to end the half gave Duke a 6 point lead at the break.
More of the same from Duke in the second half, despite foul trouble. The Blue Devils were just on fire offensively and defended the perimeter better than they have in a long time. The Blue Devils held the second best 3-point shooting team in the ACC to just 27.3% shooting while shooting a blistering 52.9% from beyond the arc themselves. The Blue Devils coasted to a 77-67 win in Blacksburg.
Not that Duke needed a hero in this game but the minutes that the Blue Devils got from Ryan Young were as important as they were impressive. Young tallied 10 points on 5-6 shooting and 5 rebounds and some impressive post defense in his 14 minutes in relief of and alongside Kyle Filipowski. The Blue Devils were led in scoring by Jeremy Roach who was 5-11 from the field, hitting on 4 of 5 of his 3-point shots for 16 points. Despite just going 2-5 from the free-throw line, sophomore Kyle Filipowski scored 14 points on 6-9 shooting. Filipowski also grabbed 8 rebounds. Tyrese Proctor rounds out the double-figure scorers with 12, hitting on 2-3 from beyond the arc and dishing 5 assists.
The Blue Devils out-rebounded the Hokies 38 to 20 led by Jared McCains 10 boards. 10 of Duke’s 38 rebounds were offensive and led to 15 second chance points.
