CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.—It didn’t come easily for Duke early in Wednesday night’s win.
After starting things off with a trio of missed threes and surviving a rocky first few minutes, the Blue Devils needed a spark. With senior guard Kihei Clark already beginning to heat up from beyond the arc for Virginia and Duke struggling to produce on offense, the Cavaliers were threatening to build a comfortable lead at home.
Rather promptly, sophomore guard Jeremy Roach answered that call, picking up his dribble and rising over his defender to put three points on the board. That moment provided the spark Duke needed to stay with—and eventually overtake—Virginia in that first half. But with each timely bucket and defensive play he made, Roach’s play became more than just a spark, but the compass Duke needed to head back to Durham win in hand.
“But then [Roach’s] verve on offense really lifted us,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said after the game. “Obviously, AJ [Griffin] made big plays and we were able to do a couple things there, but I thought Jeremy’s performance was the differentiator.”
On a night in which Duke didn’t get star performances from freshman forward Paolo Banchero or junior captain Wendell Moore Jr., Roach rose to the challenge on the offensive end, tallying a season-high 15 points and putting together a remarkably efficient night on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. His contributions were nothing if not timely: a big three early in the second half to stem a Virginia run, a crowd-silencing drive to the hoop in the guts of the game, another big triple to give Duke its largest lead at eight points with less than seven minutes to play.
“Just taking what the defense gives me and staying aggressive and confident,” said Roach. “I think that’s the biggest key for this game. We know they’re going to be a tough-nosed team. They guard, they’re physical, so just taking what the defense gives me.”
While Roach paced the Blue Devils on offense, he helped them—alongside defensive stalwart Mark Williams—to eventually withstand Clark’s first-half 3-point onslaught. The Virginia veteran was a force to be reckoned with early on, sinking six threes before the break and heading to the locker room with 18 of his team’s 25 points.
In the second half, though, Roach made life difficult on the red-hot Cavalier guard. Clark still made an impact and finished with 25 points, but managed few open looks and did not score until deep into the half. If Clark was the team’s offense in the opening frame, it was Jayden Gardner who was forced into that role for Virginia in the second half, in large part due to Roach’s defensive efforts.
“I really thought the key guy for us in the game was Jeremy,” said Krzyzewski. “Jeremy came in and not that he stopped Clark, but he defended him.”
With the Blue Devils struggling to find their way early on, Roach was their North Star. If not for his poise and command, freshman forward AJ Griffin may never have had the chance to rebound from his rough shooting night to nail a pair of crucial 3-pointers late in the game, and Duke’s redemption tale might have had a very different ending.
The truth is, though, that Roach has shown that same poise and command for a while now, providing a certain dependability in the backcourt that has only grown as the season has progressed. In Duke’s loss at Florida State, he stepped in for an injured Trevor Keels to nearly spur an unlikely overtime win. A few days later, he dished nine assists in a down-to-the-wire win against Clemson in Durham.
He hasn’t often had to score at volume before Wednesday night, acting more often than not as a facilitator. In one impressive January stretch, he posted 30 assists against four turnovers in just four games. In the game prior to Wednesday’s matchup, he didn’t have to score at all for Duke to earn a revenge win against Florida State. Krzyzewski emphasized Wednesday that no matter Roach’s position in the rotation on any given night, his role remains unchanged, and the second-year guard’s play certainly reflects that.
“[I want to] come out and do the same thing I always do every night—defend, score, get guys involved and do whatever it takes to win, so the mentality never changes,” Roach said. “I’m always just here for my teammates and doing whatever it takes to win.”
If Roach proved anything Wednesday night, it’s that he really can do whatever it takes to win. He can be what these Blue Devils need him to be, and as the most important and trickiest portion of the season approaches, they may need a compass to point them in the right direction.
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Jonathan Levitan is a Trinity senior and was previously sports editor of The Chronicle's 118th volume.