Duke routs Virginia Tech in Durham 81-65

Will Locklin

Staff Writer

February 26, 2023

DURHAM — In Duke’s last two battles with Virginia Tech, Hunter Cattoor was the star of both shows, scoring 31 points in the Hokies 2022 ACC Championship victory and knocking down five three pointers in their January win. Saturday night, however, was a different story. The Blue Devils held Cattoor to just six points on only four shots and zero made threes.

“They said you know what somebody else is going to beat the Blue Devils tonight,” Tech head coach Mike Young said to reporters postgame. “They did a good job with Proctor and Roach matching up on Hunter and limiting him tonight.” 

Duke gave up 78 points to Tech in the first matchup over a month ago. Saturday night, the Blue Devils allowed 65 points and only 32 at the halftime break. Tech failed to break Duke’s unbeaten home win streak, which now sits at 15-0, falling to the Blue Devils 81-65 inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. 

“They played really well, Jon [Scheyer] had them ready to go. They got after us defensively and we didn’t respond very well in some of those situations,” Young said. “On the other end there’s so much to contend with. A lot of credit to them, they played very sharp.” 

Duke came out guns blazing, pouring a 19-5 run on the Hokies from the opening tip until Young called Tech’s first timeout at the 13-minute mark of the first half. The fiery start from the Blue Devils was a sign that the Hokies didn’t have the firepower to match them for the rest of the contest. 

“They were more physical, no other way to put it. It’s happened a time or two to us in this building. It can happen and that’s a credit to their players and coaching staff,” Young said. 

After the Devils hot start, Tech went blow for blow with Duke, even outscoring them 27-24 from the 13-minute mark until the halftime break. The Hokies shot the ball at a 38% clip from the field and 33% on 3-for-9 shooting from three-point range through the first 20 minutes. 

Coming out of the break, Tech found itself down 43-32 and in need of a spark to cut into the double-digit deficit. After a Justyn Mutts-and-one bucket followed by an MJ Collins driving layup, Tech went on yet another offensive cold streak while Duke stayed on fire. 

“We were ok, not great by any stretch. We needed a great start and those first four minutes to be in our favor,” Young said. “It got away from us. We had a couple of good shots but a couple of turnovers in that stretch that hurt us. You just can’t do that at Cameron and against a team the caliber of Duke.” 

In the early stages of the second half, Duke amassed a 16-0 run to blow the doors of Cameron Indoor Stadium wide open for the Blue Devils and slam that door shut on the Hokies. A 24-point gap was too large for Tech to make up and slowly but surely Duke salted the contest away to wrap up Tech’s ninth road loss. 

“It’s not good obviously, you have to be able to go on the road and win. You have to do it in any league but especially this one. We have certainly had our struggles and that will be a burden on me as we move along,” Young said. 

Leading the way for the Blue Devils were excellent nights from Mark Mitchell and Jeremy Roach. Mitchell finished with 17 points and eight rebounds while Roach totaled a team-high 19 points and 10 assists, the most assists in a game by a Duke player since Tre Jones vs North Carolina on March 7, 2020. 

Even with Mitchell and Roach orchestrating the Blue Devils’ choir, Duke had a total team effort which was evident by five players reaching double figures in scoring. Derek Lively II totaled 13 points on perfect 6-6 shooting, seven rebounds and three blocks. Tyrese Proctor chipped in 10 points and eight-time ACC Freshman of the Week Kyle Filipowski poured on an extra 12 points in the Devils’ route of the Hokies Saturday night. 

Tech saw a few solid performances, but none were able to lift them anywhere near a victory. Grant Basile scored a team-high 15 points on 5-10 from the field. Mutts ended up with 11 points on 5-11 shooting. Tech’s trio of starting guards – Cattoor, Sean Pedulla and Collins registered 20 points – they also shot a back-breaking 8-22 for 36% on the night. Rodney Rice went on a bit of a heater, knocking in a trifecta of three pointers, two in the first half and one in the second. 

“I let the game come to me and make as many plays as I can with the opportunities I got,” freshman guard Rodney Rice said postgame. “Only my third game so it’s just about getting in more of a rhythm and my feet under me at this level.” 

The talented freshman guard put together his best performance in a Tech uniform, scoring 11 points and hitting an and-one step-back three over fellow freshman Filipowski. Despite a nice night from Rice, the Hokies didn’t have enough juice to contend with Duke. 

Virginia Tech falls to 16-13 overall and 6-12 in ACC play. The Hokies have two more contests coming up, a road match against the cellar dwellers of the ACC in Louisville on Tuesday and a final game versus Florida State in Blacksburg the following Saturday. Even with the loss to Duke, Tech will need to refocus and lock in for two more important challenges that will greatly impact seeding for the upcoming ACC Tournament in Greensboro, North Carolina. 

“We got an opportunity on Tuesday, this isn’t football. I don’t have to wait a week, we got Louisville on Tuesday, let’s go up there and play better,” Young said.