Blue Devils confident heading into their last push for the Final Four
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Kyle Filipowski wouldn’t definitively say Sunday’s performance was Duke basketball’s best of the season.
But No. 4 Duke’s 93-55 dismantling of No. 12 James Madison in the Round of 32 at the NCAA Tournament was pretty close to the top.
“It’s up there, top 3,” Filipowski said from his locker-room chair inside Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. “Just seeing how well we did on both ends of the floor, it’s always great to see. We are not just a one-sided team, we are a two-way team.”
By reaching the Sweet 16 in such convincing fashion, the Blue Devils (26-8) also reaffirmed their status as a powerhouse program capable of landing in Phoenix for the 2024 Final Four. Duke had entered March Madness on a twogame losing skid and underwhelmed against No. 13 Vermont in the first round until the game’s final five minutes on Friday night.
“Absolutely. Even before this win we knew we could make a Final Four,” Filipowski said. “This gives us even more confidence because no matter who we face no team has seen us this year.
“When we are playing our best basketball, no one can stop us.”
Sunday, Jared McCain produced a Duke-record eight 3-pointers for an NCAA tourney game on his way to a 30point explosion. But the freshman guard was just the first match that lit Duke’s fire from the opening tip.
Three other Duke players reached double figures, Filipowski included, and the Blue Devils shot 52.4.% from the field, sank 14 3-pointers in all and scored 21 second-chance points.
Duke also out-rebounded James Madison 37-32 and scored 24 points off 14 JMU turnovers. Duke, meanwhile, committed just six turnovers over the 40-minute contest.
And JMU’s high-scoring attack? The Dukes shot 38% from the floor.
“I don’t know if we expected this, but I just thought our guys came out with such a great competitiveness and they were obviously ready to play,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “Not just ready to play. You have to be ready to compete in these games, and everybody that was on the floor I felt had that.”