WASHINGTON—No. 2-seed Duke made the short trip up to the nation’s capital Thursday evening for a clash with No. 10-seed N.C. State, looking to book a spot in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. With a hard-fought first half behind them, the Blue Devils trail the Wolfpack 35-32:
Slippery fingers
Three of the first four combined offensive sets ended in turnovers, with sophomores Mark Mitchell and Kyle Filipowski giving it up on the Blue Devils’ first and second possessions. Filipowski recovered quickly after his giveaway to force a steal on DJ Burns Jr. The defensive prowess on both sides was the shining star — in fact, the only star — through the opening minutes, with six total steals (on six turnovers) before the under-16 timeout. While the scoring did heat up, the steal-to-turnover ratio remained high throughout.
Gone cold
Duke didn’t make its first attempt from the floor for more than four-and-a-half minutes. The first points of the contest as a whole came on two Jared McCain free throws 3:23 into the half. The cold start was eerily reminiscent of last year’s demolition in Raleigh, in which both teams were scoreless for just as long. The Blue Devils took their fair share of shots, but nearly every jumper clanged off the rim. At the 14-minute mark, sophomore guard Tyrese Proctor pulled up for a 3-pointer that was just off. Veteran Jeremy Roach was able to corral the rock as it bounced through the paint, getting the ball to McCain for a two-point jumper. However, with a lower field-goal percentage and no threes to boot at the second media timeout, Duke saw itself at a six-point deficit with a lot of offensive ground to make up.
Improvement on the glass
After being outrebounded by 11 by North Carolina last Saturday, the Blue Devils crashed the glass in their own rebound game. While their shots wouldn’t fall, they were able to haul in six offensive boards to extend their struggling possessions. McCain continued to wow with his knack for grabbing defensive rebounds, elevating over members of the Wolfpack to grab the ball after a missed Jayden Taylor shot. While the difference didn’t stay as severe, Duke was able to maintain that advantage throughout the opening frame, ending up 20-16.
The DJs
It wasn’t only Burns this time. DJ Horne was out against Louisville in N.C. State’s first-round win, but came back against Syracuse and burned the Orange for 16 points in the upset win. He didn’t do much in the Wolfpack’s regular-season loss to Duke, but he got involved early Thursday night, coming off the bench more than three minutes in and going off for 12 points. Horne didn’t leave the court for the rest of the half. Burns, who cooked the Blue Devils for 27 points in Raleigh early last week, was kept relatively quiet. The 6-foot-9 forward only had five points and two rebounds.
Player of the half: Kyle Filipowski
After a down first half five days ago in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Filipowski was his team’s saving grace in the early minutes of the half. He was the only Blue Devil with success from the floor, making three of his team’s first five field goals and grabbing five rebounds. After Michael O’Connell found a lane on the fast-break with just more than eight minutes to play to extend the Wolfpack lead to four, Filipowski responded with a bang, catching a quick pass from McCain and going straight to the rim for the dunk. His 12 points (on 6-for-7 shooting) went hand-in-hand with his three steals. He had game-tying and go-ahead layups more than two-thirds of the way through the period.
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Rachael Kaplan is a Trinity senior and a senior editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.