Playing on the road in the ACC is tough so I’m certainly sure the Blue Devils didn’t mind a struggling Miami team being down two starters. Next man up as Duke has been in that situation a plethora of times this season. Duke wasted very little time in showcasing one of their best offensive outputs of the season. The Blue Devils spent the first half building a solid 17 point lead on the strength of excellent shooting from the outside. The Blue Devils hit on 8 of their 16 3-point shots in the first half and unlike in their last game, turned the ball over just 3 times in that half. The Blue Devils also won the first half rebounding battle 22-18 and held the Hurricanes to just 29% shooting in the half.
The second half saw both teams begin sloppy as the energy in the Watsco Center was absent. Miami never corrected their poor shooting dipping below their first half percentage to just 27% while the Blue Devils were hitting at a 60% clip. While the Blue Devils did turn the ball over 7 times in second half, they only surrender 8 points off of those turnovers. The Blue Devils dominated in paint points in the second half doubling up the Hurricanes 20-10 as the Hurricanes talented, undersized big Norchad Omier had a night to forget – only scoring 9 points on 3-14 shooting. Omier did manage to grab 10 rebounds to lead the Canes. But offensively the Hurricanes could not overcome their own shooting, nor Duke’s defense.
The Blue Devils coasted in the second half to a 29 point victory. The Blue Devils boasted 5 players in double figures lead by senior guard Jeremy Roach with 16 points. Roach shot 4-8 from the field and 4-6 from 3pt range. Mark Mitchell and Kyle Filipowski split a 30 piece, each going 5-7 and combining to go 3-4 from 3. Tyrese Proctor in his first game back since suffering a concussion scored 12 points and dished 5 assists to only 1 turnover. Caleb Foster rounds out the double figure scoring, shooting 3-5 from 3-point range.
Next up for Duke is a date with Wake Forest Saturday on the road in LJVM Coliseum, a place the Demon Deacons haven’t suffered a loss all season.
