Kyle Filipowski scored 22 points and No. 21 Duke pounded Pitt, 96-69, in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at Greensboro Coliseum.
Dereck Lively matched his season high with 13 points, Mark Mitchell had 12 points and Tyrese Proctor added 11 points and a season-high 10 assists as the four leading scorers for the Blue Devils were freshmen in their first ACC tournament.
Fourth-seeded Duke (24-8) advances to play top-seeded Miami, which defeated ninth-seeded Wake Forest 74-72 in the first quarterfinal played Thursday.
Fifth-seeded Pitt (22-11) lost for the third time in its last four games and might have some anxious moments when the NCAA Tournament field is revealed Sunday night.
Nike Sibande led the Panthers with 17 points off the bench, while reserve Guillermo Diaz Graham had 14 points and Jamarius Burton posted 13 points.
It was the second meeting of the season between the teams coached by former Duke players and one-time Blue Devils’ assistant coaches. Duke won a close game at home in January, but this time Jon Scheyer’s team was never in danger against coach Jeff Capel’s Panthers.
Duke shot 63.2 percent from the field and Filipowski made 8 of his 10 attempts. The Blue Devils recorded a season-high 27 assists.
The Blue Devils shot 11 of 26 from 3-point range despite some late misses and reserves were on the court for a good chunk of the final stretch.
Pitt shot just 27.8 percent on 3-pointers (5-for-18), but did convert on 20 of 24 free-throw attempts.
Duke scored the game’s first 12 points and was in a groove for most of the game. The Blue Devils led 48-32 at halftime, with Filipowski with 14 points as the game’s only player in double figures at the midway mark.
The Blue Devils reached the 90-point mark with more than six minutes remaining.
Duke improved to 100-40 all-time in games at the Greensboro Coliseum.
–Field Level Media
