Duke basketball: Tennessee tenacity ends Jon Scheyer's first season
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If ever there was a game where the Duke basketball team needed the services of freshman forward Mark Mitchell, who had started every game this season, it was the No. 5 seed Blue Devils' Round of 32 clash against No. 4 seed Tennessee in Orlando's Amway Center on Saturday afternoon.
But Mitchell sat this one out due to a knee injury he sustained during practice on Friday afternoon; fellow freshman forward Dariq Whitehead started in his place.
And with a Sweet 16 berth on the line, the older, more physical No. 4 seed Volunteers left with a 65-52 victory over the freshman-laden No. 5 seed Blue Devils, snapping Duke's 10-game win streak in the process.
It was a back-and-forth affair for most of the first half, but Tennessee enjoyed a surge late and entered the locker room with a 27-21 lead. The Blue Devils committed 11 turnovers in the first half to only five from the Vols.
After the break, the veteran Tennessee playmakers answered every challenge from Duke, grabbing more loose balls and draining way too many threes for the Blue Devils to stay within striking distance in the final minutes. The Vols outrebounded Duke 34-30.
Tennessee's Santiago Vescovi and Olivier Nkamhoua shot a combined 7-for-11 from deep, including a 5-for-6 clip in the second half.
Freshman guard Tyrese Proctor (16), freshman forward Kyle Filipowski (13), and junior guard Jeremy Roach (13) led the way for Duke in the scoring column. They were the only Blue Devils in double figures.
And Duke didn't come up with buckets when it mattered most.
Overall, it looked like professional grown men from Rocky Top playing against mostly teens from Durham.
The Duke basketball squad finished Jon Scheyer's first season at the helm with a 27-9 overall record. Although their NCAA Tournament effort failed to produce any significant March Madness magic, these fun-to-watch Blue Devils will hang one banner in Cameron Indoor Stadium from their ACC Tournament title.
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