DURHAM, N.C. — A return to its home court meant Duke rediscovered winning on Tuesday night.
The Blue Devils halted a brief two-game losing streak and remained unbeaten at Cameron Indoor Stadium this season with a 68-64 win over Notre Dame.
After losing 81-59 at Miami and 69-62 in overtime at Virginia last week, Duke built an eight-point halftime lead over Notre Dame. Thanks to Duke’s hot-and-cold shooting in the second half, the Blue Devils saw a 14-point lead dwindle to one in the final minute before they held onto hand Notre Dame (10-16, 2-13 ACC) its fourth consecutive loss.
Duke (18-8, 9-6) won with retired coach Mike Krzyzewski watching from courtside seats, the first time the Hall of Famer has attended a Blue2Devils game since retiring last year.
Kyle Filipowski, Duke’s leading scorer this season who went scoreless at Virginia on Saturday, shook off the sprained ankle he suffered in that loss to score 21 points for the Blue Devils. He was the lone double-figure scorer for Duke, which is 13-0 on its home court this season.
Dane Goodwin scored a game-high 25 points for Notre Dame, including a stretch in the second half when he accounted for 17 consecutive Irish points.
After leading 31-23 at halftime, Duke used a 7-2 spurt to open the second half to take a 38-25 lead. When Ryan Young scored inside with 15:08 left, the Blue Devils led 42-28.
But Young’s basket was Duke’s only made field goal over a stretch of 10 shots. Notre Dame took advantage with a 12-2 run and cut Duke’s lead to 44-40 on a Goodwin’s shot in the lane with 11:09 to play.
Duke guard Jeremy Roach halted that streak when he leaped high to secure a one-handed rebound Filipowski’s missed 3-pointer before hitting a short jumper.
After Filipowski hit two free throws, Dereck Lively slammed home a Roach miss in transition giving Duke six consecutive points and a 50-40 lead with 9:24 to play.
Goodwin made sure the Irish didn’t go away quietly, though, hitting a shot in the lane before swishing a 3-pointer with 6:26 left slicing Duke’s lead to 52-47.
After Filipowski hit a layup, Goodwin scored while drawing a foul and added a free throw leaving Duke with a 54-50 lead with 5:25 to play.
Duke pushed its lead to 58-52 when Tyrese Proctor found a driving lane down the middle of the Irish defense for a layup with 4:09 remaining.
With 2:53 left, Roach did the same and Duke’s lead was back to 60-52.
But Notre Dame kept pushing and back-to-back 3-pointers by Cormac Ryan and JJ Starling left Duke with a 62-60 lead with 1:11 remaining.
Roach split two free throws with 55 seconds left before Starling scored inside with 36 seconds left leaving Duke up 63-62.
Finally, Mark Mitchell’s 3-pointer from the corner in front of Duke’s bench with 10.8 seconds left gave Duke a 66-62 lead that the Irish could not overcome.
Filipowski’s 10 points and nine points from Whitehead on three 3-pointers, propelled Duke to a 31-23 halftime lead.
Notre Dame led 17-15 when Whitehead hit his second 3-pointer to put Duke in front and start a 12-0 Blue Devils run. They didn’t trail for the remainder of the half.
Young contributed two baskets inside during the key stretch. Whitehead closed it with another 3-pointer, this one at 2:40 giving Duke a 27-19 lead.
Notre Dame shot 36% in the first half while hitting just 1 of 11 3-pointers.
