Reserves guide No. 7 Duke past Virginia Tech

Field Level Media|published: Mon 29th January, 21:14 2024

Jan 27, 2024; Durham, North Carolina, USA;Duke Blue Devils head coach Jon Scheyer (right) talks to guard Caleb Foster (1) during the second half against the Clemson Tigers at Cameron Indoor Stadium. credits: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Jeremy Roach and Ryan Young combined for 26 points off the bench to lead No. 7 Duke past Virginia Tech 77-67 on Monday in Blacksburg, Va.

Roach scored 16 points and Young tied his season high with 10 for the Blue Devils (16-4, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who outscored the Hokies 26-4 in bench points.

Kyle Filipowski supplied 14 points, Tyrese Proctor added 12 points and Jared McCain paired nine points with 10 rebounds in Duke's first win at Blacksburg since Dec. 6, 2019.

MJ Collins led Virginia Tech (13-8, 5-5) with 17 points and made half of the Hokies' six 3-pointers. Hunter Cattoor tallied 15 and made his 300th career 3-pointer, while Sean Pedulla and Lynn Kidd each chipped in 12 points.

The Blue Devils scored from inside and out to pull away after Cattoor's 3-pointer trimmed Duke's lead to 45-42 with 14:07 remaining.

Roach and Proctor combined for three triples while Young and Mark Mitchell produced in the paint over a four-minute stretch that grew the Blue Devils' advantage to 61-51 with 9:56 to play.

Virginia Tech pulled no closer than seven after Pedulla's layup closed the gap to 63-56 with just under eight minutes remaining.

Collins appeared to injure his left leg after his dunk closed the scoring with 23 seconds to play. The guard eventually walked off the court under his own power.

Duke finished 9 of 17 (52.9 percent) from 3-point range compared to the Hokies' 6-of-22 mark (27.3 percent) and outrebounded Virginia Tech 38-20.

Roach and Caleb Foster each scored eight points throughout a free-flowing first half that ended with the Blue Devils ahead 35-29.

All five Virginia Tech starters scored before the first media timeout at 12:38, at which point Duke led 14-13 thanks to two 3-pointers from Foster.

The Blue Devils continued to hum as the pace slowed and widened their lead to 21-13 on Young's layup that capped a 12-0 run.

Duke took its largest lead of the half at 32-21 on Mitchell's dunk before the Hokies rallied behind Collins, who bookended an 8-0 run with a pair of treys that pulled Virginia Tech to within 32-29 in the half's final minute.

Collins, who entered Monday averaging 5.7 points per game, led all first-half scorers with 13 points.

Roach's last-second 3-pointer left the Blue Devils ahead by six at halftime.

—Field Level Media

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