CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Once up 14 points in the second half, No. 16 Duke struggled to the finish but got the big play it needed from Kyle Filipowski to finish off Boston College.
Filipowski, a 7-0 freshman, hit two free throws with 12.4 seconds left giving the Blue Devils a 65-64 ACC basketball win over the Eagles at Conte Forum.
The Blue Devils (12-4, 3-2 ACC), playing their first game since an 84-60 loss at N.C. State on Wednesday night, were without starting guard Jeremy Roach (toe injury). They made just one of their final 13 shots from the field of the game and finished with 15 turnovers.
After Quinten Post’s basket with 27 seconds left gave Boston College its first lead of the game at 64-63, Duke worked the ball inside to Ryan Young who missed a wild layup attempt. However, Filipowski secured the rebound and drew a foul with 12.4 seconds to play. He hit both pressure free throws to give him 15 points and his team the margin of victory.
Makai Ashton-Langford had a chance to give Boston College the lead but missed a jump shot with three seconds to play.
“For us to be in an end-of-game situation like that,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said, “I thought we grew up a lot.”
Dariq Whitehead led Duke with 18 points While Mark Mitchell added 14, the 6-8 freshman forward made a major contribution on defense by blocking Boston College guard Jaeden Zackery’s layup attempt with 38 seconds left.
“He’s a winner,” Scheyer said. “He made some big time plays down the stretch, his blocks, his drive. He’s not the only one but really proud of what he did and proud of our team to figure out a way to win.”
Roach watched the game from the bench in street clothes, wearing a protective boot on his right foot, due to an injured big toe on his right foot. Roach first suffered the injury in late November and this is the second game he’s missed.
Without him, the Blue Devils committed 15 turnovers — 11 in the second half — and shot 39.6% for the game.
The Blue Devils built their 14-point lead at 52-38, but only scored two points over a six-minute span. Boston College battled back to tie the game at 54 with 8:51 to play.
While Duke was in the midst of only hitting one field goal over an 12-minute span, the Blue Devils used free throws and zone defense to keep the Eagles at bay.
Boston College missed eight consecutive shots from the field after Duke switched away from its man-to-man. Two free throws each from Whitehead and Young, plus a Mark Mitchell free throw, gave the Blue Devils a 59-55 lead with 3:58 to play.
Prince Aligbe’s basket at 2:48 left Duke up 59-57 but Mitchell hit two more free throws at 2:20.
Filipowski ended Duke’s string of 10 consecutive misses with a shot inside at 1:42 but Aligbe answered with a 3-pointer leaving Duke up 63-62.
After a Whitehead miss, Filipowski stole a Boston College pass with 56 seconds left. Even though Whitehead missed a dunk, Duke retained possession.
Filipowski slipped with the ball but called timeout to save the possession at 47.6 seconds. But Mitchell lost the ball out of bounds giving Boston College possession with 45.7 seconds left.
That’s when Zackery beat Mitchell off the dribble to got loose for an apparent layup only to have Mitchell came from behind to block it. A replay review confirmed the ball went off Boston College out of bounds.
“I saw them on the sideline telling him if you get by to drive it,” Mitchell said. “I caught on a little late and he went. I just tried to make a play on the ball. I was trying to not let him get an easy basket.”
However, Duke once again failed to get the ball inbound and a turnover gave the ball back to Boston College with 35.6 seconds left. Post scored inside but Filipowski’s free throws, after a hustling offensive rebound, trumped it.
“Getting an offensive rebound, that’s just pure fight, pure will,” Mitchell said “That’s what won us the game.”
Leading 37-33 at halftime, the Blue Devils opened the second half with solid offense to build a 52-38 lead with 14:41 to play. While Boston College made just two of its first nine shots after halftime, Filipowski scored seven points while Whitehead and Tyrese Proctor nailed 3-pointers.
But after the Blue Devils built that 14-point lead, their offense sputtered with four turnovers over the next three minutes. Boston College reeled off 10 points in a row, with Post scoring eight of them, to slice Duke’s lead to 52-48 with 11:40 remaining.
But when Devin McClockton scored on a reverse layup with 10 minutes left, Duke’s lead was just 54-52.
After Young missed a shot in the lane, Mason Madsen’s behind the back pass to Zackery resulted in his transition layup that tied the game at 54-all with 8:49 to play.
Duke changed to a zone defense from there until the final minute and it worked. Boston College missed eight consecutive shots against it. But with the Blue Devils also unable to hit a shot, it came down to free throws for them to win.
Whitehead’s hot start from the field propelled Duke to a 37-33 halftime lead. The freshman made his first five shots, scoring 13 points before his first miss.
Duke’s half-court offense looked much better from the start with improved passing to get higher percentage shots, allowing it to shoot 48.3% in the first half. Young collected five first-half assists as the Blue Devils had 12 assists on 14 made shots over the first 20 minutes.
Mitchell had nine first-half points as he was able to maneuver inside and get entry passes to score.
Up 37-29 with a minute left in the half, the Blue Devils were in position to be even more in control at intermission. But Jaylen Blakes, after recording a steal, had his layup attempt blocked. Duke retained possession and used a timeout.
But Flilipowski’s shot in the lane was blocked before Langford scored on the other end with 31 seconds left. Duke bled the shot clock down before Blakes missed a jumper. Filipowski attempted a tip-in but the ball became lodged between the rim and backboard.
By rule, a held ball was called and Boston College had the alternate possession arrow. With one second left, the Eagles inbounded the ball and Post caught a length-of-the-court pass and hit a jumper at the buzzer leaving Duke up only four points.
