BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Duke basketball’s Kyle Filipowski did not supply his first field-goal try till the 4-minute mark of the primary half.
The All-American heart did not take one other shot. However the 7-foot, 247-pound sophomore was hardly invisible throughout No. 4 Duke’s gritty, 64-47 victory over No. 13 Vermont within the opening spherical of the NCAA Match at Barclays Middle on Friday evening.
In 36-plus minutes, Filipowski corralled 12 rebounds, handed out 4 assists, picked up two steals and blocked 4 Vermont photographs to fill the stat sheet on an evening the Duke main scorer completed 0 of 1 from the ground.
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“So many guys get caught up in stats, particularly younger gamers, it may be about scoring. He does a lot for our group,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer mentioned. “However for him to be such a prepared passer, and we have now a lot taking pictures on the ground, I believed it was only a big-time recreation by him to be sincere with you. And it is a lesson for any highschool participant that is making an attempt to make it. Like he impacted the sport taking one shot.”
How, precisely, did Filipowski affect the Spherical of 64 victory? Merely, Filipowski didn’t pressure the difficulty for his alternatives in opposition to a Vermont group decided to not let the Duke huge man too many inside seems or touches? And, by passing out of double groups or making the precise learn, Filipowski let his teammates shine.
The beneficiaries of Filipowski’s unselfishness? Mark Mitchell and Jared McCain. Mitchell, who scored 11 of his 15 factors within the first half by beating Vermont’s ball-screen protection, and McCain additionally produced a 15-point effort in a recreation that noticed the Blue Devils held to almost 16 factors beneath their season common. Jeremy Roach chipped in 14 factors and Tyrese Proctor added a trio of 3s for 13 factors.
“I’ve to offer an enormous shout to Flip. He bought me these open photographs,” McCain mentioned. “So though it does not present on the stat sheet, even when I miss a few of these photographs, he received us a whole lot of these performs, these possessions. I bought a whole lot of love for Flip when he finds me outdoors the submit.”
Filipowski additionally managed the glass and took away Vermont possibilities on the rim along with his massive attain for blocks. Duke completed with a 38-26 edge on the glass.
“Clearly I did not know he solely had three factors. I believed he affected the sport, his passing and rebounding was nice. Simply did what it took to win,” Mitchell mentioned. “He performed good protection for a lot of the recreation and simply affected the sport each manner. And we ran our offense via him and we bought beauty and open photographs and that is all you possibly can ask for.”
Though it was a double-digit victory, Duke solely led 50-44 with 7:26 to play. Proctor answered a Vermont 3-pointer along with his trey of his personal to spark a 6-0 spurt. The lead didn’t dip beneath 9 the remainder of the best way for the Blue Devils, who snapped a two-game dropping streak to go to the second spherical.
“Any time you will get a nitty-gritty win like that, it helps your group, helps your camaraderie and helps your togetherness,” Mitchell mentioned. “I believe we’re going to use that going ahead the remainder of the weekend to assist us.”
Contact Alex Abrami at aabrami@freepressmedia.com. Comply with him on Twitter: @aabrami5.