They say the devil is in the details. But in Durham, the Blue Devils are in the details - and in the numbers:
100
No. 9 Duke men’s basketball concluded a three-game home stretch against Wake Forest Monday night, the 100th all-time in Durham between the in-state rivals. With the Demon Deacons keeping it close all game, the Blue Devils needed a strong performance to pull off a victory, and they got one from forward Mark Mitchell. The sophomore had an outstanding night, tying his career-high in points with 23 on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor, which included his seventh made three of the season. Mitchell got some help from center Kyle Filipowski, who added 21 points, 11 rebounds and a pair of blocks. Meanwhile, freshman guard Jared McCain scored 17 points and secured 10 boards, marking his fourth double-double of the season and fourth contest in the last five games with double-digit rebounds.
With the 77-69 win, Duke improves to 82-18 over Wake Forest at home all-time. The victory also marked the 25th-straight home victory against the Demon Deacons in Durham, continuing a streak that has lasted since head coach Jon Scheyer was nine years old.
19
Duke women’s basketball earned a thrilling overtime victory against North Carolina Sunday, which doubled as forward Delaney Thomas’s breakout game. The freshman scored a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor while notching seven rebounds. Thomas was particularly critical in the fourth quarter while the Blue Devils attempted to overcome a 12-point deficit. She garnered an and-one to tie the contest with 3:52 left while also securing a block on an Alyssa Ustby layup attempt. The Charles Town, W.V., native also added three early points in overtime to keep Duke afloat. All told, Thomas’s strong effort propelled the Blue Devils to their eighth conference win of the year.
4
Junior Amina Maatoug has garnered many accolades for Duke’s cross country and track programs, cementing herself as an all-time athlete for the Blue Devils. This past Saturday, Maatoug continued to add to her Duke legacy at the BU Valentine Invitational. Out of 318 competitors, she placed fourth in the mile, earning a personal-best time of 4:29.22. The Leiden, Netherlands native should continue to boost the women’s track and field team as it hopes to secure its second ACC title in the past three seasons.
6
For its first four contests of the regular season, No. 5 Duke softball traveled down to Mexico for the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge. Despite a tough loss to No. 1 Oklahoma Thursday, the Blue Devils comfortably won their last three contests by a combined margin of 20 runs. Their best performance came against No. 18 Nebraska, where senior Jala Wright pitched a remarkable contest. The Charlotte, N.C., native allowed no runs throughout Duke’s first six innings, ending with a 0.66 ERA after three appearances. Thanks to her showing during the weekend, Wright earned ACC Pitcher of the Week.
10
In two games across the weekend, senior Katie DeSimone scored ten goals for No. 25 Duke women’s lacrosse. During last Friday’s 10-9 loss to then-No. 25 Navy, DeSimone scored two unassisted goals to help the Blue Devils pull themselves out of a 10-3 deficit for a comeback attempt that ultimately fell short. Duke fared much better against High Point thanks to a seven-goal, four-assist performance by the senior, with four goals occurring in the first quarter alone. The 22-14 win offered a morale boost following the loss to the Midshipmen, and DeSimone earned ACC Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.