Duke basketball opens its ACC tournament with a quarterfinal tilt against Pittsburgh
Two Mike Krzyzewski proteges, part of the staff that delivered Duke’s most recent NCAA championship, square off against one another in an ACC tournament quarterfinal on Thursday.
No. 5 seed Pittsburgh, led by ACC coach of the year and former Blue Devil Jeff Capel, will face No. 4 seed Duke at 2:30 p.m. at Greensboro Coliseum with a spot in the ACC tournament semifinals on the line.
Capel’s Panthers (22-10) continued their resurgent season with a 89-81 win over No. 13 seed Georgia Tech in Wednesday’s second round.
Jon Scheyer, who took over the Blue Devils (23-8) following Krzyzewski’s retirement last April, will coach his first ACC tournament game against a good friend. He and Capel were fellow assistant coaches under Krzyzewski when Duke won the 2015 NCAA championship.
“Jon has done a heck of a job, and I’m not surprised,” Capel said. “When he joined the staff at Duke, I could see right away why he was a really good player, because he had a great feel. You could see he had a great feel for the game but also a really good feel for people.”
The Blue Devils enter as the ACC’s hottest team, riding a six-game winning streak with wins in nine of their last 11 games.
“Those freshmen have grown up,” Capel said. “Obviously we know that they’re very, very talented. It’ll be a heck of a game. I think we’ve gotten better since we played them, too, so we’re excited about the challenge.
WHAT’S AT STAKE
While Duke’s metrics — No. 24 in the NET, No. 31 in KenPom — have it solidly in the NCAA tournament field, Pittsburgh could use another Quadrant 1 win to strengthen its position. This is Pitt’s first ACC tournament quarterfinals appearance since 2016, which is the last time the Panthers posted a winning record or played in the NCAA tournament.
Capel and Pitt are in more of a desperate situation than Scheyer’s Blue Devils.
Duke needs to add a couple more quality wins to its record to possibly move up the NCAA tournament seed line and play close to home at Greensboro in the tournament’s first weekend.
FIRST IMPRESSION
Duke and Pitt played once in the regular season with the Blue Devils rallying in the second half to beat the Panthers, 77-69, at Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham on Jan. 11.
While Duke junior guard Jeremy Roach sat out that game with an injury to his right big toe, freshman guard Tyrese Proctor had a standout game with 14 points and five assists with no turnovers for the Blue Devils. Freshman Kyle Filipowski scored 28 points with 15 rebounds.
The Blue Devils won despite turning the ball over 17 times as Pitt hit only 6 of 22 3-pointers (27.3%).
SCOUTING REPORT ON PITT
This projects as a clash of styles. Pittsburgh is one of the ACC’s most efficient teams. According to KenPom.com, the Panthers are second in the league scoring with 1.129 points per possession against ACC teams. They are No. 3 in the ACC in 3-point shooting (36.4%) in league games.
Duke, meanwhile, excels at slowing down offenses and preventing them from scoring. The Blue Devils allow 1.009 points per possession while ACC opponents have made only 32.2% of their 3-pointers. Duke has blocked 12.7% of opponents shots, No. 2 in the ACC in league play.
Duke’s starting guards Tyrese Proctor and Jeremy Roach need to continue playing the lock-down defense they’ve displayed of late. They’ll be asked to slow Pitt senior guard Jamarius Burton, a first-team, all-ACC pick, as well as fellow senior Nelly Cummings.
Duke 6-8 freshman forward Mark Mitchell’s matchup with 6-7 Pitt junior Blake Hinson will also be key to determining who wins.
Capel said the main thing his team needs to focus on is rebounding. Duke secured 24 offensive rebounds in the first game with Pitt, collecting 55.6% of its missed shots.
“That’s why they beat us at their place,” Capel said. “They dominated the glass. We have to be better there if we want to have a chance against them.”
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING:
Pittsburgh senior guard Jamarius Burton: “I think some things that we’ve gotten better since that matchup is just understanding switch attacks a little bit better, understanding defensive schemes, and understanding where to attack. I feel like that first time playing against them, we were just getting our feet wet in that area, and ever since then we’ve been able to grow and get better as a team.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 4:59 PM with the headline "Duke basketball opens its ACC tournament with a quarterfinal tilt against Pittsburgh."