Kyle Filipowski scores 30 points to help No. 11 Duke top Georgia Tech 84-79

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Kyle Filipowski's 30 helps Duke defeat Georgia Tech at home

Kyle Filipowski drops 30 points leading Duke to the home win over Georgia Tech.

Jan 14, 2024, 01:19 am

DURHAM, N.C. -- — Kyle Filipowski was terrific, and Tyrese Proctor and Ryan Young charged up Duke’s rowdy home crowd in the second half.

The No. 11 Blue Devils needed every bit of it to hold off Georgia Tech.

Filipowski scored a career-high 30 points in an 84-79 win Saturday, leading Duke to its eighth straight win since losing its Atlantic Coast Conference opener to the Yellow Jackets last month.

Duke (13-3, 4-1) rallied from 10 down with 14 1/2 minutes left, as Georgia Tech (8-8, 1-4) seemingly refused to miss for long stretches after halftime. That forced the Blue Devils to battle just to keep hitting shots to buy some margin for their defense to make a few key plays.

“I think you just had to have a lot of patience playing that game,” Filipowski said.

Duke converted 14 turnovers into 15 points while committing a season-low four turnovers of its own.

Filipowski, a 7-foot preseason Associated Press All-American, also had 13 rebounds and four assists. Young's play as a 6-10 reserve helped change the game by giving Duke a bigger lineup with starting forward Mark Mitchell sidelined by a knee sprain. Young scored all 10 of his points after halftime.

“We just didn't have a rhythm offensively," second-year coach Jon Scheyer said. “Once we went big with Ryan and (Filipowski) together, it was just too good. We had to keep rolling with that group."

Naithan George scored 17 points for the Yellow Jackets, who were within reach of their first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium in nearly two decades.

Baye Ndongo and Miles Kelly each had 16 as Georgia Tech spent much of the second half shooting better than 60% and finished the game at 54.5%, including 11 of 20 from 3-point range.

First-year Georgia Tech coach Damon Stoudamire said it's “easy to get guys up for a game where people talk about that team.” The only problem was they just couldn't quite finish the job and lost their fifth straight.

“We made our runs, Duke came back," Stoudamire said. “Our guys held our composure.”

BIG PICTURE

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets had won just five times in 43 attempts at Cameron, the last time coming in 2004 with a team that ultimately reached the NCAA title game. They kept knocking down tough shots and keeping Duke on its heels.

Duke: Injuries are a concern. In addition to Mitchell, starting guard Jeremy Roach (18 points) had an issue with his right knee, causing him to depart for about four minutes during a critical second-half stretch. He returned for about a minute before limping off a final time at the 3:09 mark. Scheyer had no updated on Mitchell or Roach afterward.

STEPPING UP

Proctor went down with an ankle injury in the opening minutes of last month's loss and missed four weeks. This was his best performance in the fifth game of his return with 11 of his 17 points after halftime, including two straight 3-pointers that finally put Duke ahead to stay at 72-69 with 6:51 left.

UP NEXT

Georgia Tech: The Yellow Jackets visit No. 21 Clemson on Tuesday.

Duke: The Blue Devils host Pittsburgh next Saturday.

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