Duke Takes Out Virginia Tech On The Road, 77-67

And it was pretty convincing, too.

A lot of things went Virginia Tech’s way Monday night. Duke had foul trouble for Kyle Filipowski, Jeremy Roach and Ryan Young. The Blue Devils also only took 10 free throws and made just six.

But Duke had Tyrese Proctor and Proctor was a huge difference.

Va Tech started hot, going up 11-6 but Duke caught up and took the lead at 13-12 before pulling away, ultimately leading by 11 at 32-21.

However, Virginia Tech, behind MJ Collins, cut the lead down rather quickly. Collins hit three to cut it to eight, then Hunter Cattoor dunked to make it 32-26. Then Collins hit another three to cut the lead to 32-29.

At the same time, Duke started to look shaky. Mark Mitchell had two turnovers during that stretch and Kyle Filipowski had one. Proctor was called for a charge and Duke was fortunate to still be up by three.

With halftime drawing close, Jeremy Roach missed a three with :10 left but Sean Stewart got the rebound and gave him a second chance, which Roach hit, giving the Blue Devils a 35-29 lead at the break.

Duke had eight turnovers in the first half compared to just three for the Hokies. Caleb Foster led the way for the Blue Devils in the first half with eight points.

In the second half, Duke started off going into Filipowski. Virginia Tech was not going away but the Hokies weren’t doing what they normally do from three point range either, shooting 3-11 in the first half and 3-11 in the second half also.

The Hokies hung around though and when Jeremy Roach picked up three fouls in a row - Duke gets all the calls, haven’t you heard? - it didn't look good. Duke was up just 45-39.

As it turned out, it didn't matter. And it didn’t matter much when Filipowski got his fourth because Ryan Young came in and played brilliantly and Duke in general stepped up.

Roach hit a three to put Duke up 48-42 and Mitchell got a basket off of a Young assist to keep the lead at six, 50-44.

Then Proctor hit a three to push the lead to 53-46 with 12:19 to play.

Proctor found Young for a layup with 11:49 to play and after a Robbie Beran three, Roach hit another himself to put Duke up by nine, 58-49.

Virginia Tech was just not able to cut into Duke’s lead very much. Young got a rare dunk with 9:56 to put the Devils up by 10 and he hit another basket with 8:10 left to keep the lead at nine.

Then Young got another with 7:24 to go to keep Duke ahead 65-56 and Jared McCain hit a pair of freebies to push the lead to 11 at 67-56.

The Hokies didn’t score again until 5:19 when Hunter Cattoor nailed a three off of a remarkable pass from Mylyjael Poteat which cut the lead to eight. But Proctor hit a layup to push Duke back up by 10 with 4:26 to play and from there, it was just basically game management.

Filipowski hit a basket followed by one for the Hokies by Lynn Kidd.

But then Roach found Mitchell for a dunk to send Duke ahead by 12 again, 73-61. Proctor hit another shot to get Duke’s biggest lead at 75-61.

Kidd got a dunk but Roach made his free throws - not a sure thing for the Blue Devils lately - to keep the lead at 14.

The Hokies closed it out with a layup by Beran and a nice dunk by Collins, who soon fell to the floor with what looked like (we hope) a cramp. This is the second straight year he’s had a weird situation at the end of a Duke game at Cassell - last year you’ll recall he punched Filipowski in the throat, which was ruled accidental.

By the way, Collins started the game as the best weapon Mike Young had with 13 points.

He finished with 17, including the last irrelevant basket. The Blue Devils did a really nice job on him in the second.

Duke also hammered the Hokies on the boards, with a 38-20 overall advantage and 10-4 on the offensive end. Jared McCain didn't shoot well, but the 6-3 guard showed again that he’s an outstanding rebounder, pulling down a team-leading 10.

The best thing about this game to us, aside from individual performances, was that Duke was not rattled by the Cassell crowd, which speaks volumes about this team’s growth.

With the Monday night win, Jon Scheyer and staff get the rest of the week to plan for Saturday’s big visit to UNC.

Notes - Duke shot 55.4 percent overall and 9-17 behind the line...Proctor was 5-8...Foster 3-5...Roach 5-11...several days of rest and treatment should help him a lot...Duke held Sean Pedulla to 4-15 and 0-6 from deep...the Hokies got just four points from the bench...Duke got 26, all from Young and Roach...

• CASSELL STORMED: No. 7 Duke men’s basketball escapes Virginia Tech with gritty win
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• Duke basketball keeps Virginia Tech at bay. 3 takeaways from the Blue Devils’ 77-67 win
• No. 7 Duke fends off Virginia Tech behind Jeremy Roach’s bench scoring
• Virginia Tech Doesn’t Have Enough In 77-67 Loss To No. 7 Duke
• Virginia Tech Loses to No. 7 Duke 77-67
• Virginia Tech basketball: Hokies fall short against Duke, 77-67
• Duke basketball’s Jeremy Roach bounces back in win at Virginia Tech
• Duke Dominates Virginia Tech on the Road with a 77-67 Victory
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• DUKE QUOTES (PDF)
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