DURHAM, N.C. — Their captain’s return didn’t help a struggling offense down the stretch, but Duke’s tough-as-nails defense and Kyle Filipowski’s clutch free throws led to a Blue Devils win.
No. 17 Miami’s 34.9% shooting allowed junior guard Jeremy Roach and Duke to post a gritty 68-66 ACC basketball win Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
“Our defense has been our backbone,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “I think we’re the type of team we have to gut it out and scrap and claw. And we did that.”
Playing his first game since Jan. 4 due to a lingering toe injury, Roach scored 14 points and recorded a key steal with 10 seconds left and Duke up 68-64.
Filipowski scored 17 points, including four free throws in the game’s final 2:05 that accounted for all Duke’s points during that stretch. The 7-foot freshman added 14 rebounds to record his ninth double-double.
Duke (14-5, 5-3 ACC) shot 40.3%, its first time topping the 40% plateau from the field since 2023 began, and hit just two of its final 16 shots.
Scheyer, though, was encouraged by his team recording 19 assists on 25 field goals while turning the ball over just 10 times. Jacob Grandison led the Blue Devils with six assists while adding two 3-pointers.
“Jake is just a calming force,” Scheyer said. “You know, he makes really easy plays. The ball doesn’t stick with him. He’s the best post passer that we have. He’s always a threat.”
Tyrese Proctor scored 11 points and Dariq Whitehead added 10 for the Blue Devils.
Miami (15-4, 6-3) hit only 30.9% of its second half shots as Duke employed a zone defense. Jordan Miller (19 points) and Nijel Pack (18 points) were the only double-figure scorers for the Hurricanes.
After leading the majority of the second half, including an eight-point lead with 10 minutes to play, Duke’s lead was 66-64 after Miami’s Norchad Omier hit one of two free throws with 1:45 to play. A Grandison miss in the lane gave Miami a chance to tie or take the lead.
The Hurricanes got three shots in the same possession but missed all three before Duke’s Ryan Young secured a rebound with 35.6 seconds to play.
Filipowski hit two free throws with 18.6 seconds left extending Duke’s lead to 68-64 before Roach’s steal helped close out the Hurricanes.
Stymied by a Duke zone defense, Miami hit only 5 of its first 19 shots after halftime and Duke built a 59-51 lead. The Blue Devils squandered a chance to make the lead more comfortable by missing 10 consecutive shots and going scoreless for 5:02.
Isaiah Wong’s 3-pointer during that slump cut the Duke lead to 59-57 with 6:32 left.
Roach ended the scoring drought by sinking a tough shot in the lane with 6:10 left. Proctor added a 3-pointer at 5:16 giving Duke a 64-57 lead. Proctor’s shot was the final field goal the Blue Devils made.
Duke went scoreless on its next three possessions and when Omier hit a basket in the lane, drew a foul and added a free throw, Duke’s lead with 64-63 with 2:54 to play.
After the teams were tied 38-all at halftime, the Blue Devils nailed three 3-pointers over the first six minutes of the second half. The last two helped Duke build a 51-47 lead.
With the shot clock expiring, Whitehead launched a shot from the center circle that banked in with 16:15 to play. Grandison’s 3-pointer with 14:50 left pushed Duke’s lead to four points.
With Miami in the midst of going scoreless for 5:15 while missing six shots in a row, a basket inside from Filipowski and Roach’s pull-up jumper in the lane with 11:48 to play gave the Blue Devils a 55-47 lead.
Duke started the game uncharacteristically hot from the field, hitting 12 of its first 17 shots (70%) to build a 29-24 lead behind Filipowski’s nine points.
The Blue Devils naturally cooled off, missing seven shots in a row, and Miami took advantage to claw back and take a 33-30 lead on two AJ Casey free throws with 3:54 left until halftime.
Roach ended Duke’s cold streak with a 17-foot jumper with 3:30 left and, after Bensley Joseph’s 3-pointer for Miami, hit a 3-pointer of his own at 1:46 leaving Miami up 36-35.
After Casey’s basket gave Miami a 38-35 lead with 51 seconds left in the half, Scheyer called timeout to set up a 2-for-1 situation.
Roach found an open Grandison in the left corner and the grad student nailed the open 3-pointer, tying the game at 38-all with 40.4 seconds left.
The Blue Devils got a stop when Pack missed a 3-pointer from NBA depth against the Duke zone. But Grandison’s 3-pointer misfired and the teams went to halftime tied at 38.
Duke shot 48.4% in the first half while Miami hit 40% of its shots.
