Jeremy Roach leads balanced Duke attack as Blue Devils beat Louisville in ACC basketball

On Monday night, Duke's balanced offensive strategy produced a workmanlike win over last-place Louisville. Duke defeated the visiting Cardinals, 79-62, with five Blue Devils scoring in double digits, led by Jeremy Roach's 14 points. The Blue Devils (20-8, 11-6 ACC) won their third straight overall game while remaining unbeaten at Cameron Indoor Stadium in 14 games.

Duke's junior captain, Roach, scored 12 points in the second half, when the Blue Devils led by as many as 17. He scored 10 points in the final 8:33, giving the Blue Devils answers after Louisville came within 10 points several times. "Jeremy, I didn't believe he got off to a good start," Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. "However, he's our guy." He just continued making the correct decisions. Everything definitely opened up for him at the end of the game. I think it demonstrated a high level of maturity on his behalf. "He came through big time, especially down the stretch."

Mark Mitchell and Kyle Filipowski each had 13 points, while Tyrese Proctor had 12 and Dereck Lively had 10 for the Blue Devils, who shot 53.8% in the second half and finished the game at 48.9%. Duke had just six turnovers, their fewest in an ACC game this season. "We were just moving the ball so efficiently and getting into the paint so well that we were just getting buckets around the rim," Filipowski explained. El Ellis, a Durham native, led Louisville (4-24, 2-15) with 21 points, while JJ Traynor chipped in with 16. The Cardinals had a 42.6% shooting percentage.

Filipowski scored nine consecutive Duke points early in the second half after scoring four in the first half as the Blue Devils extended their nine-point halftime lead. At 15:10, a Dariq Whitehead 3-pointer snapped Filipowski's personal scoring run and increased the Blue Devils' lead to 56-41.

Duke's lead swelled to 17 points at 13:41 when Jacob Grandison made a 3-pointer, putting the Blue Devils up 59-42. The Cardinals chipped away at the deficit, closing to within 10 points five times in the final ten minutes. Yet Duke, powered by Roach, never let Louisville get closer than ten points again. Despite Ellis' great shooting start, Duke led at halftime 42-33.

Ellis scored 11 of Louisville's first 13 points, including three 3-pointers, to help the Cardinals jump out to an early 18-9 lead. As Ellis and the Cardinals calmed down, the Blue Devils found their shooting touch and scored 13 points in a row to seize the lead for good.

"We're obviously approaching another level," Filipowski remarked. "Whenever we establish a lead, we need to keep it and not give it back." The outburst was initiated by Lively's two free throws, which were followed by 3-pointers from Proctor and Grandison. Following two Mitchell free throws, Grandison made his first 3-pointer from the opposite corner, giving Duke a 22-18 lead.

With 5:46 remaining before halftime, two Ellis free throws cut Duke's advantage to 29-24. Mitchell, on the other hand, scored the next seven points for Duke. Following his two transition dunks, Mitchell rebounded a Proctor miss to score and draw a foul. At 2:43 of the first half, his free throw gave Duke a 36-26 advantage.

Following a 7-of-11 start from the field, the Cardinals missed 10 of their next 12 shots, allowing the Blue Devils to take the lead. Louisville finished the first half with a 46.2% shooting percentage. The Blue Devils shot 45.5% in the first half, with Grandison and Proctor both hitting two 3-pointers.