No. 11 Duke Dismantles Pitt, 75-53, Behind Monster Performance from Kyle Filipowski

 It was Kyle Filipowski’s night on Tuesday night at the Petersen Events Center.

The Duke sophomore dominated Pitt from start to finish, crushing the Panthers’ dreams of a top-15 upset. To start off his night, Filipowski grabbed four rebounds in the first four minutes. He then caught fire scoring the ball, hitting a whopping 11-straight field goals throughout the rest of the game.

Duke quieted the electric Pitt crowd early, taking a 9-4 lead after four-and-a-half minutes of play behind its star sophomore. As Pitt struggled to hit shots out of the gates, Duke found great looks and converted early.

The Blue Devils took advantage of their strength advantage, as Filipowski barreled inside for six points in the first nine minutes of action. Freshman guard Jared McCain hit two of his first three shots, kickstarting a 21-9 start for the Blue Devils while Pitt hit just three of its first 13 shot attempts.

Zack Austin led the Panthers with four points in the first 11 minutes, but aside from him, not a single Panther could find success early on offensively. Freshmen guards Bub Carrington and Jaland Lowe combined to miss their first seven shots, and the Devils also locked up Pitt star shooter Blake Hinson from the start. On the other end, Duke found easy looks both inside and out, hitting ten of its first 20 shot attempts. Filipowski continued to find the bottom of the basket, while veteran guard Jeremy Roach also took advantage of the Panthers, scoring two easy buckets in the first 12 minutes.

Hinson hit his second three of the night with 7:25 remaining in the first half, cutting the lead down to 13. However, Duke replied with a Caleb Foster three, silencing the Pete once again. Shortly after, Foster hit his next three, and Filipowski hit one as well to extend the lead all the way to 36-16 with just over five minutes to go in the half.

At the break, Pitt’s guard trio of Carrington, Jaland Lowe, and Ishmael Leggett was a combined one for 14 from the field. Hinson was three for five from three-point range, but aside from his deep shots, the Panthers could not get anything going offensively, and trailed by a whopping 25 points at the half, 48-23. Filipowski led the Blue Devils with an elite 7 for 8 half from the field, scoring 17 points and grabbing six rebounds in the frame.

To open the second half, Duke hit each of its first three shots, staying hot and continuing to bury the Panthers. Roach added five more points in the first seven minutes of the half, and Foster, Mitchell, and Filipowski also had buckets early in the latter frame.

Pitt’s Carrington started the game zero for his first ten from the field, and finally hit his first shot of the game on a three pointer with just over 11 minutes to play in the contest, cutting Duke’s lead down to 31.

Down the stretch, Pitt went on an 8-0 run to trim the lead down to 25, but it didn’t get much closer after that. Reserve forward Sean Stewart slammed home a dunk with just over two minutes remaining to all-but-bury the Panthers, extending Duke’s lead back up to 23.

At the buzzer, Austin finished as Pitt’s leading scorer with 11, while Carrington hit a few more field goals down the stretch to finish with ten. The Blue Devils won the game by a final score of 75-53.

Filipowski also grabbed ten rebounds to finish with a double double. Behind Filipowski, McCain scored 12 points, Roach had nine, and Foster finished with eight. Foster and guard Tyrese Proctor led the team in assists with seven and five, respectively.

The Blue Devils shot 53% from the field in the win, including an elite 44% mark from three-point range. Pitt shot 33% from the floor, while also hitting 33% from three-point land.

With the loss, Pitt drops to 10-6 (1-4 ACC) on the year, while the Blue Devils improved to 12-3 (3-1 ACC) with the win. Pitt now has one week off before taking on Syracuse next Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Petersen Events Center.