The No. 2 Duke team dominated UNC Pembroke on Wednesday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium with an effective and well-rounded offensive strategy, resulting in a 109-64 win. Six players scored in double digits for Duke.

Kyle Filipowski, a second-year student, was the top scorer for Duke with 17 points and six rebounds. His classmates Tyrese Proctor and Jared McCain contributed 15 points each, while senior Jeremy Roach, freshman Sean Stewart, and sophomore Mark Mitchell also scored in double figures with 13, 12, and 11 points respectively.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Proctor started off the game by scoring a three-pointer, followed by McCain scoring in the paint amidst heavy traffic, giving Duke a 5-0 advantage.

At 18:48, UNC Pembroke scored a layup to get on the scoreboard. However, three consecutive three-pointers from Proctor increased Duke’s lead to 14-2 and caused the Braves to call a timeout.

A 10-0 streak occurred during the first half, led by second-year player Kyle Filipowski, McCain, and freshman Caleb Foster, which increased the Blue Devil’s advantage to 25-5 with 12:12 remaining.

After that, Duke maintained their lead – at halftime, the team was ahead 59-24.

The underclassmen provided the offensive charge for Duke in the first half as Proctor scored 15 points, McCain added 13 and Filipowski chipped in 11. The defense also netted a solid opening frame forcing 15 UNC Pembroke turnovers while scoring 26 points off those miscues.

Duke dominated in the second half, scoring 50 points compared to UNC Pembroke’s 40, resulting in a 45-point lead by the end of the game.

Roach, along with freshmen Stewart and Mitchell, contributed to the team’s overall scoring with 13, 12, and 11 points respectively, along with three other Blue Devils.

NOTES

Duke has been victorious in all 35 of its exhibition games since the 2004-05 season.

On Wednesday evening, Duke and UNC Pembroke had their inaugural meeting.

Duke’s team scored 109 points in their exhibition game, the highest score since they scored 112 points against Florida Southern before the 2015-16 season.

The Duke team had a field goal percentage of 31 out of 58 (53.4%) and a three-point percentage of 11 out of 25 (44%).

The Blue Devils had a ratio of four assists to one turnover at the end of the game, recording 20 assists and only five turnovers.

Six players scored in double digits, with all five starting players contributing. Kyle Filipowski scored the most points for the team, finishing with 17 points. He had a shooting percentage of .667 (6 out of 9) from the field and a perfect 100% (4 out of 4) from the free throw line.

Jared McCain made all 9 of his free throw attempts and contributed a total of 15 points to the freshman team’s score.

Tyrese Proctor had a total of 15 points, making 5 out of 8 shots from beyond the 3-point line. He also started off strong by making 4 of his first 5 shots from deep within the first three minutes of the game.

Jeremy Roach scored 13 points, with a 90% success rate from the free throw line.

Mark Mitchell had a total of 11 points, along with four rebounds and three assists.

Newcomer Sean Stewart came off the bench and scored 12 points, shooting 6 out of 7 from the field. He also grabbed six rebounds, three on defense and three on offense.

QUOTES

“I believed it was beneficial for our team to experience playing in Cameron. It’s a unique atmosphere. We have four freshmen who have never played here before, so there may have been some initial jitters. The crowd and energy are different. Overall, I was pleased with our performance. Our defense may have weakened as the game progressed, but credit to Pembroke for their relentless effort.” – coach Jon Scheyer.

“It was a great feeling to finally have the opportunity to play together in front of a crowd instead of against each other. It’s always beneficial to have that experience. I’m thrilled that we were able to come out with a win. Everyone on the team performed well and we were able to earn a lot of free throws. Our focus on limiting turnovers and sharing the ball among all five players paid off. Overall, I am pleased with our performance as a team. We were all eager to finally play together.” – Senior guard Jeremy Roach.

UP NEXT

Duke’s second-ranked team will begin their regular season on Monday, November 6th, playing against Dartmouth. The game will start at 9 p.m. in Cameron Indoor Stadium and will be televised on the ACC Network.

To keep informed about Duke University’s men’s basketball team, you can follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook by searching for “DukeMBB.”

Source: wralsportsfan.com