It feels very hyperbolic to say that a game in the late days of December is a must win but with the Blue Devils dropping games at home to Arizona and on the road to Arkansas and to Georgia Tech – it really felt that way Wednesday night. The Blue Devils last game in the non-conference against a ranked team would come against a tough Baylor team with a 9-1 record. Duke would have to improve in every phase of the game to compete against the second best 3-point shooting team in Division I.
Duke’s first 8 minutes were a thing of beauty for the Blue Devils. Duke jumped out to a 10 point lead against the Bears on the strength of Jared McCain’s quick 9 points. The Bears made adjustments ratcheting up their defensive pressure and finished the half strong cutting the Blue Devil lead to just 2 fueled by freshman Yves Missi’s 11 points.
The second half saw both teams volley, trading buckets and the lead. Baylor pushed their lead to 6 (42-48) at the 14 minute mark of the second half but Duke battled back and drew even with 6:51 left in the second half. The Blue Devils went on a game clinching 11-1 run, winning the game 78-70 at MSG.
The Blue Devils were paced by freshman Jared McCain who scored 21 points on 7-11 shooting and 3-6 from beyond the arc. Jeremy Roach continued his streak of big offensive output games scoring 18 points on 5-9 shooting. In his last 6 games the senior Captain is averaging 19.3 ppg, 3.7 apg, 12-20 from deep. Duke notched double figure scorers for each starter with Caleb Foster, starting for the injured Tyrese Proctor, scored 12 points and pulled down 5 rebounds. Mark Mitchell and Kyle Filipowski scored 10 and 13 points respectively with Filipowski pulling down 10 rebounds.
The Blue Devils played an excellent floor game, limiting their turnovers (8) and the Bear’s ability to get out on the break. The Bears had 3 fast break points for the game. The Blue Devils were plus 12 points from the line with a 24-12 advantage – stat that generally favors Baylor and a huge point of emphasis for Duke entering the game. The Blue Devils defense was much improved as was their physicality. Duke forced 14 Baylor turnovers and turned those into 13 points.
