No. 10 Duke needed to take down the Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday to remain in contention for an ACC regular season title.
The Blue Devils (23-6, 14-4 ACC) jumped out to a massive lead early and never let up as they captured a commanding 73-48 victory over the Cavaliers (21-9, 12-7 ACC).
Duke jumped out to a 14-4 lead within the first five minutes after scoring on its first four possessions, a run capped off by a Tyrese Proctor triple.
Sophomore 7-footer Kyle Filipowski continued to stretch the Blue Devil’s lead with a three of his own, a turnaround jumper, and then a dunk to give him 13 points early as Duke led 27-11.
The Blue Devils penetrated inside over and over again as they rattled off yet another run, this one an 8-0 streak midway through the first half to build a 33-11 advantage.
The Blue Devils’ ball movement helped break Virginia’s vaunted zone defense, which averaged less than 60 points allowed per game before Saturday. Duke created several open buckets in the first half and went on to finish the game with 44 points in the paint while the Cavaliers mustered just 18.
Firing on all cylinders at the crib atm 🚚🚚🚚 (ESPN) pic.twitter.com/PLrNwHoIr2
— Duke Men’s Basketball (@DukeMBB) March 2, 2024
Duke went into the break with a commanding 40-18 lead over Virginia. Filipowski led the way with 15 first-half points. He went on to finish the game with 21 points on 9/14 shooting.
The Blue Devils shot an efficient 58.6% from the floor, while Virginia shot just 23.1% as a team. Duke also found much more success crashing the boards in the first half, outrebounding Virginia 21 to 11 over the first 20 minutes. The Blue Devils ended the game with 42 rebounds as a team, 13 more than the Cavaliers.
Virginia started the second much more competitive, keeping pace with Duke offensively in the second half, but UVA could never chip that far into the advantage. The lead still swelled to more than 25 points midway through the second half.
Tyrese Proctor stepped up throughout the game in the absence of Caleb Foster. He scored 15 points in the win, his most since January 27 against Clemson, on 6/8 shooting with three triples, his second game shooting 50% or better from beyond the arc since the start of February.
Three Blue Devils scored double-digit points, with sophomore Mark Mitchell adding 10 points, as Duke shot 49.2% from the floor as a team.
Despite Virginia’s best efforts in the second half, they trailed by more than 20 points for most of the second half as Duke went on to take the win.
The Blue Devils will travel on the road next to take on the NC State Wolfpack in their final road game of the 2023-24 season, their last game before the season finale against North Carolina.