Duke basketball heats up in first half against Xavier
After a lackluster start that turned into a frustratingly ugly 54-51 win over the Oregon State Beavers on Thanksgiving, Duke basketball was looking for an explosive start in its Phil Knight Legacy semifinal matchup against the Xavier Musketeers (4-1, 0-0 Big East) in Portland, Ore., on Friday.
And 7-foot freshman Kyle Filipowski delivered.
The advanced 19-year-old scored his team's first seven points before the first media timeout, leading to an 18-12 advantage for the No. 8 Blue Devils (5-1, 0-0 ACC) halfway through the first half.
One of Filipowski's early buckets was a three. Interestingly, that was Duke's only attempt from deep until freshman small forward Dariq Whitehead knocked one down with 6:40 to play before the break. Junior point guard Jeremy Roach swished two more across the last five minutes.
Perhaps first-year Duke basketball head coach Jon Scheyer instructed his players to look for more opportunities inside the arc rather than settling for the long ball. Or maybe it resulted from Xavier playing man-to-man defense and Oregon State playing zone.
It was probably a mix of both factors. Whatever the reason, it worked. The Blue Devils found their rhythm via the two-ball while efficiently throwing in a 4-for-5 mark from downtown in the first half; they shot 14-for-25 from the field.
Indeed, that is quite an improvement from the 16-for-60 clip they put up against Oregon State; that 26.7 shooting percentage marked the all-time lowest by the Blue Devils in a victory.
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Duke entered the locker room against Xavier with a 40-34 lead.
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