Mitchell, Foster help No. 9 Duke push past Notre Dame 71-53 to regroup from UNC loss

DURHAM, N.C. -- — Jon Scheyer got more of the intensity he wanted form his ninth-ranked Duke team after an emotional rivalry loss, even as the Blue Devils hardly played at lights-out level in beating Notre Dame 71-53 on Wednesday night.

“I thought it was great to get a win without necessarily playing our best on offense,” the second-year coach said.

The Blue Devils (17-5, 8-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) were coming off a 93-84 loss at No. 3 North Carolina, which left Scheyer frustrated by his team’s inability to match the Tar Heels' intensity such as diving on the court for loose balls.

“He just let it be known that it is not acceptable and it's not the way we're going to play the rest of the season,” said freshman Caleb Foster, who had 13 points.

Mark Mitchell added 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who ran off 17 straight points that included a layup, jumper and 3-pointer from Foster for a 20-5 lead. Notre Dame got no closer than eight again (33-25 at halftime).

Duke shot 43% overall and had its second straight rough outside-shooting night (4 for 18) and missed 10 free throws. But the Blue Devils grabbed 16 offensive rebounds to take a 21-2 edge in second-chance points.

“We’re usually one of the best defensive rebounding teams ... and I thought they hurt us there,” first-year coach Micah Shrewsberry said. “They just beat us up on the glass at times.”

Markus Burton scored 19 points for the Fighting Irish (7-16, 2-10), who went 8 1/2 minutes without a basket early as Duke ran out to its big early lead and shot just 33.9% overall.

BIG PICTURE

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish hasn't won since beating Georgia Tech on Jan. 9. Offense was again a problem; the Fighting Irish came in ranked 305th nationally in KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency (99.1 points per 100 possessions), then missed 12 straight shots early and went another 5 1/2 minutes without a basket midway through the second half.

Duke: Kyle Filipowski, a preseason Associated Press All-American, didn't have a strong bounceback from the UNC loss, when he was soundly outplayed in a marquee matchup with Armando Bacot. The 7-footer sat early with two first-half fouls Wednesday, picked up his third before scoring his first basket and finished with eight points on 2-for-9 shooting with nine rebounds.

“We need him to be better, and he's hard on himself and he wants to be better," Scheyer said, adding: “We won the game by 19 points when he's in there, but he's only in there for half the game.”

POKER FACE

At one point, Scheyer knelt down to talk to a seated Filipowski on the bench after he had picked up his fourth foul, with Filipowski saying Scheyer was making sure he was “doing good mentally.”

“I was trying not to overreact to nothing,” Filipowski said. “I didn't, but sometimes my face can still show a different expression that I'm not really trying to show.”

UP NEXT

Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish host Virginia Tech on Saturday.

Duke: The Blue Devils host Boston College on Saturday to continue a three-game homestand.

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