PORTLAND, Ore. — It took Jeremy Roach nearly 15 minutes of play to hit his first shot for Duke on Friday, but the junior guard hit big shot after big shot the rest of the game.
Roach posted just the second 20-point game of his career, scoring 21 points and dishing out five assists, as the No. 8 Blue Devils rediscovered their offense to beat Xavier, 71-64, in the PK Legacy tournament semifinals at Moda Center.
“Jeremy Roach, his leadership throughout the whole game was a key,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “And then a lot of different guys stepped up with some big time contributions. So really proud of this effort.”
One day after beating Oregon State, 54-51, despite shooting 26.7%, Duke (6-1) hit 50% of its shots to reach the PK Legacy championship game. The Blue Devils will play either No. 6 Gonzaga or No. 24 Purdue on Sunday in the title game at 3:30 p.m.
The Bulldogs and Boilermakers are scheduled to tip off their semifinal game at 11:30 p.m. Friday.
Roach hit 9 of 14 shots, including 2 of 4 3-pointers. He’s the first Duke player to score 20 points or more this season. Freshman forward Mark Mitchell scored 16 points and freshman center Kyle Filipowski added 12 for Duke.
“We like to play inside out,” Roach said, “but, I mean, when guards are hitting shots, when guys are hitting shots that are open, it opens up for everybody else. So just kind of try to be consistent hitting shots.”
Xavier (4-2) didn’t hit a field goal over the final 5:51 of the game and shot 38.5% for the game with 15 turnovers. Duke blocked four shots and recorded nine steals, with Filipowski leading the Blue Devils with four steals.
“I mean, that’s what we talked about down the stretch in the timeouts,” Filipowski said. “Just digging deep. Fighting.”
After leading by as many as 13 points in the second half, Duke saw Xavier slice its deficit to three points on five occasions, including 65-62 on two Souley Boum free throws with 5:10 left.
Mitchell’s put-back layup off a Ryan Young miss pushed Duke’s lead back to 67-62. After Duke’s defense stopped four consecutive Xavier possessions, including forcing two turnovers and blocking a shot in the lane, Roach hit a jumper with 2:44 left giving Duke a 69-62 lead.
Scoring flurries from Filipowski and Roach in the first half allowed Duke to lead 40-34 at intermission. Mitchell’s turn came as the second half began.
He scored inside off an in-bounds pass under the basket, blocked a shot then finished Duke’s next possession with a driving scoop shot. After Roach scored on a layup, Mitchell drilled an open 3 from the right wing to give Duke a 49-36 lead with 17:55 to play.
Duke hit a dry spell offensively turning the ball over three times over the next six minutes, and eight points from Adam Kunkel brought Xavier back. His basket and free throw at 12:15 cut Duke’s lead to 53-50.
Coming off a poor shooting day in Thursday’s win over Oregon State, Duke started much better on offense against Xavier.
The Blue Devils shot 56% in the first half, while making four of five 3-pointers, to lead 40-34.
Duke’s sturdy defense stymied Xavier from the start as the Musketeers hit only two of their first 14 shots while turning the ball over four times. That allowed the Blue Devils behind Filipowski scoring their first seven points, to lead 16-9.
Xavier finally found a groove on offense, scoring on four consecutive possessions to take a 25-21 lead on Jack Nunge’s 3-pointer at 7:03.
Roach, though, scored 10 points over the game’s next five minutes, hitting a pair of 3-pointers, as Duke unleashed a 15-2 run to lead 36-27. Dariq Whitehead started the run hitting a contested 3-pointer from the wing at 6:40.
