Sportswrap: Lively sparks men's basketball past North Carolina, women's basketball swipes first place in ACC

Dereck Lively II celebrates during Duke's narrow win Saturday against North Carolina.
Dereck Lively II celebrates during Duke's narrow win Saturday against North Carolina.

Sportswrap is your one-stop shop for everything Duke athletics, where we’ll recap how each of Duke’s sports currently in competition performed over the last week and give a brief look ahead. Here’s our recap for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5.

Men’s basketball

Cameron Indoor Stadium once again worked its magic for the Blue Devils. Duke (17-6, 8-4 in the ACC) closed out a hard-fought 75-73 win against Wake Forest Tuesday night. Junior captain Jeremy Roach led the effort with 21 points while freshman Kyle Filipowski added an 11th double-double to his tally, posting 16 points and 11 rebounds. Saturday brought the long-awaited rivalry matchup against North Carolina, the first of head coach Jon Scheyer’s career. On Coach K Court, in front of a roaring crowd of Cameron Crazies, the Blue Devils ended a three-year home drought in the rivalry with a 63-57 win. Fueled by another 20-point performance from Roach and 14 rebounds and eight blocks by Dereck Lively II, Duke outlasted its rival to remain undefeated at home. Next, the Blue Devils play Monday night at No. 19 Miami and Saturday at No. 8 Virginia. -Rachael Kaplan

Women’s basketball

No. 9 Duke started off Thursday with a 53-44 win against Pittsburgh and carried that momentum into an upset victory Sunday afternoon at then-No. 9 Notre Dame. The Blue Devils (20-3, 10-2) floundered early against a relatively weak Panther squad but ultimately pulled out the win. With the 57-52 victory against the Fighting Irish, the Blue Devils claimed first place in the ACC. While the victories were key, the biggest news came from Duke’s Jan. 29 game at Florida State, in which head coach Kara Lawson said that a men’s ball was used in the first half of her team’s 70-57 loss to the Seminoles. The Blue Devils are off until Thursday, when they travel to Boston College before ending the week at home Sunday against Miami. -Martin Heintzelman 

Women’s tennis 

The Blue Devils completed their eight-match homestand strong this week with a three-match sweep of Harvard, Georgetown and N.C. Central. Duke (8-0) sailed to a victory against the Crimson 7-0 Saturday with Chloe Beck registering her eighth-straight singles win. On Sunday, Duke defeated both Georgetown and North Carolina Central 7-0, recording its 19th-straight home victory.  The fourth-ranked Blue Devils hope to continue the momentum into their first road matches of the season as they travel to Seattle to compete in ITA National Team Indoors starting Friday. -Anna Newberry

Men’s tennis

The 25th-ranked Blue Devils had two nail-biting home matches this week, with a 4-3 victory Friday against Illinois and a 4-3 defeat Sunday at the hands of No. 23 Northwestern. Against the Fighting Illini, Duke (5-3) won the doubles point, and the match came down to the final singles contest. Senior Garrett Johns clinched the match, as he defeated Illinois junior Hunter Heck 6-4, 7-6 (0). However, against Northwestern, the Blue Devils fell behind in doubles. The singles matches were all very competitive, but the Wildcats were able to pull away in the end. For Duke, senior Andrew Zhang, freshman Pedro Rodenas and sophomore Connor Krug all recorded singles victories. -Ranjan Jindal

Men’s lacrosse

No. 8 Duke opened its season Saturday at home in Koskinen Stadium with a 19-7 blowout win against Bellarmine. The Blue Devils (1-0) had nine different scorers on the day, including five players who each scored two goals—among them, newcomer Charles Balsamo—and were led by Dyson Williams and Andrew McAdorey with four and three goals, respectively. Graduate student William Helm started in goal and finished the day with eight saves in nearly 48 minutes. The home team went on a 10-0 run through the beginning of the second half until the Knights had their first goal. Duke next hosts High Point at 7 p.m. Tuesday before traveling Saturday to No. 18 Jacksonville. -Ana Young

Swimming and diving

Duke traveled to Blacksburg, Va., for the Virginia Tech Invitational this weekend. While the majority of the team sat out, it was an opportunity for some of the younger members to perform ahead of the ACC Championships next week. On the men’s side, freshman Austin Simpson was a standout performer, earning third in the 1,650-yard freestyle, with sixth-place finishes in both the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyles. For the women, sophomore KyAnh Truong finished third in the 100-yard butterfly while also performing well in the 100-yard freestyle, earning a sixth-place finish. The Blue Devils will next travel to Greensboro, N.C., for the ACC Championships beginning Feb. 14. -Jindal

Track and field

The Blue Devils enjoyed another successful weekend on the track Friday and Saturday in Winston-Salem, N.C. Highlighting her team at the JDL Camel City Invitational was sophomore Amina Maatoug, who broke Duke’s school record in the women’s mile in 4:32.52. Both women and men dominated the pole vault—something that is becoming a weekly expectation for the Blue Devils. Junior Brynn King reset her personal record and won on the women’s end, while graduate student Tyler Hrbek took first for the men. The Blue Devils look to polish off the rest of their regular indoor season next weekend, as they head over to Vanderbilt and down to Clemson. -Sophie Levenson

Wrestling

Without star heavyweight Jonah Niesenbaum due to injury, Duke suffered a 45-0 defeat to ACC foe Virginia Tech in Card Gym. The beatdown included one pin, two major decision technical losses, five major decision losses and one forfeit at 174 pounds. Freshman Connor Barket, wrestling up at 285 pounds due to Niesenbaum’s injury, fought admirably, getting to the leg multiple times. However, the sheer weight difference left Barket unable to convert on his leverage. The Blue Devils will try to regroup before traveling to Charlottesville, Va., Friday for an away dual against Virginia. -Luke Jovanovic

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