Freshmen Lead Duke Past Pitt, 96-69, in ACC Qtrs

Thursday, March 9

Greensboro, N.C.

2:30 p.m.

Duke University

24-8,14-6ACC

Pitt

22-11,14-6ACC

Pittsburgh

Duke

Kyle Filipowski celebrates in ACC Tournament quarterfinals

Freshmen Lead Duke Past Pitt, 96-69, in ACC Qtrs

3/9/2023 5:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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GREENSBORO – Four Blue Devils scored in double figures and Duke (24-8, 14-6) defeated Pittsburgh (22-11, 14-6), 96-69, in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon. Kyle Filipowski led all scorers with 22 points and Tyrese Proctor finished with the second double-double of his career with an 11-point, 10-assist effort. The Blue Devils logged an season-high 27 assists on 36 made field goals, setting a new ACC Tournament record for assists in a game.

Filipowski and Proctor were joined in double-figures by Dereck Lively II -- who matched a career high with 13 points -- and Mark Mitchell, who ended with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. As a team, Duke shot 36-of-58 (.621) from the field, surpassing its previous season-high of .566 against Virginia Tech on Feb. 25.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Kyle Filipowski drained a three-pointer on the first possession of the game and following a defensive stop, the freshman nailed another shot from deep to give the Blue Devils an early six-point lead.
Duke's defense held Pittsburgh without a made field goal for over four minutes and led, 16-4, at the first media timeout of the game.
Layups by Jeremy Roach and Jacob Grandison extended Duke's lead, 20-6, with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half. The Blue Devils recorded assists on seven of their first 10 makes and remained ahead, 25-13, after a three-point play by Dariq Whitehead.
A layup by Dereck Lively II gave the freshman five first-half points and sent Duke into the final media timeout of the first half with an 18-point lead, 39-21. The Blue Devils hit two three-pointers as the half wound down and headed into the break with the 48-32 advantage.
Duke started the second half on a seven-point run, courtesy of layups by Mitchell and Filipowski and the fourth three-pointer of the day by Filipowski. Pittsburgh called timeout just over 90 seconds in the half with the Blue Devils leading, 55-32. A three-pointer by Lively made it a 12-0 scoring run to start the second half in just under three minutes of play.
A dunk by Ryan Young and a three-pointer by Grandison on back-to-back possession pushed Duke's lead to 30 points, 74-44, with 12:31 remaining.
Proctor became the fourth Blue Devil in double figures with his third three-pointer of the game, giving the freshman 11 points for the game. The Sydney, Australia native capped off his second career double-double less than two minutes later with his 10th assist of the game, setting up a Jaylen Blakes layup.
The Blue Devils rested their starters in the final minutes of play and finished off the 96-69 victory.

NOTES

Duke is now 108-46 (.701) all-time in the ACC Tournament, including 45-18 in the quarterfinal round – Duke's 108 wins and .701 winning percentage in tournament play each lead the ACC.
The win was Duke's 100th all-time at the Greensboro Coliseum as Duke is now 42-18 in ACC Tournament games at the venue and 100-40 in the venue all-time.
Duke's 96 points, 27 assists and .621 field goal percentage were each season highs.
The 27 assists set an ACC Tournament record. The previous mark of 26 was held by North Carolina in the 2001 quarterfinals vs. Clemson.
Duke's 96 points were its most in an ACC Tournament game since beating North Carolina, 96-73, in the 1999 championship game in Charlotte. It was tied for the sixth most all-time for Duke in the ACC Tournament.
Duke's 27-point margin of victory was its ninth largest in the ACC Tournament and largest since beating Boston College, 86-51, in the 2021 first round.
The 96 points marked the third most by any ACC team in the quarterfinal round.
Duke's 48 points and .630 (17-of-27) field goal percentage in the first half were each first-half highs this season.
For the season, Duke has now held 28 of 32 opponents to below their season scoring average. Pitt entered averaging 75.9 points.
Duke held Pitt to 5-of-18 from three-point range (.278), marking the 18th time this season Duke has held a team below .300 for the game.
Duke had four starters score in double figures – the fifth straight game with at least four reaching double digits.
Duke has now connected on at least one three-point field goal in 1,185 consecutive games – the nation's second longest active streak.
Freshman Kyle Filipowski scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-10 from the field, 4-of-6 from three-point and 2-of-2 at the free throw line.
Filipowski is the first Duke freshman with a 20-point game in an ACC Tournament debut since Zion Williamson's 29 vs. Syracuse in the 2019 quarterfinals.
The 10 assists by Tyrese Proctor were tied for the third most by a Blue Devil in the ACC Tournament and most since Trevon Duval had 11 vs. Notre Dame in the 2018 quarterfinals. Bobby Hurley's 13 vs. Maryland in the 1992 quarterfinals is the program record.
Freshman Mark Mitchell was the fourth Blue Devil in double figures with 12 points and five rebounds – his fifth consecutive game in double digits. Over that span, Mitchell is averaging 12.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and shooting .579 (22-of-38) from the field.

QUOTES

"The way we shared the ball was beautiful. I was told it's an ACC Tournament record. It's a reflection on these guys for how they've grown together as a team and just making the right play. Really some beautiful plays. We know we have to move on quickly. Doesn't matter what you win by. But really happy to beat a really good Pitt team." -- head coach Jon Scheyer
"I think we always talk about turning defense into offense. I think just being as big and as athletic as we are, even when D-Live blocks a shot and kind of gets us on a run-out, that's something we can always take advantage of. And I think tonight obviously with the steals and D-Live blocking a couple shots there in the first half helped us get out in transition, too. I think when we're doing that, that's when we're at our best." -- Duke freshman Mark Mitchell

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