Last season, Duke won its final six regular-season games before thoroughly beating Pittsburgh, Miami and Virginia to win the ACC tournament. This year’s squad will have the same goal in mind, but the Blue Devils are entering the postseason with a sour taste in their mouths. A loss at home to North Carolina kept Duke from earning a share of the regular-season title and pushed the team down to the No. 2-seed in the ACC tournament.
Here are five things to watch for as the Blue Devils look to avenge their loss to the Tar Heels and repeat as ACC tournament champions:
Confidence level
As heartbreaking as the loss to North Carolina was for Duke — especially for captain Jeremy Roach on his senior night — the team still has plenty of reason to be confident heading into the fires of March. Since Feb. 1, the Blue Devils rank as the fifth-best team in the nation, according to BartTorvik.com. Their only losses in that stretch are to the Tar Heels and at Wake Forest, and none of those games were decided by double digits. So while it is easy for a team to falter after a tough loss, it is essential for Duke to regain its previous form and poise immediately.
“We're still one of the best teams in the country, our success is not defined by [North Carolina],” sophomore center Kyle Filipowski said after Duke’s home loss to the Tar Heels. “It's tournament time and we're trying to put ourselves in the best position to succeed …Obviously it's a hard loss, but it's not the end of the world. This postseason can definitely be ours if we take the right approach.”
Due to their regular-season success, the Blue Devils earned a double-bye in the tournament and will have plenty of time to rest and recover. Plus, they have already beaten all three possible opponents (N.C. State, Louisville and Syracuse) that they may face in the quarterfinals. Throughout his tenure, head coach Jon Scheyer has helped ensure that his team comes out strong after a rough game — Duke is 11-3 after a loss over the past two seasons — and he will need to do so again in the nation’s capital.
Wealth of experience
In order to bounce back, Scheyer will likely turn to some of his more experienced stars. This starts with Roach, a key part of last season’s ACC tournament title run and the Blue Devils’ 2022 trip to the Final Four. While the Leesburg, Va., native struggled in what could have been his final game in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Roach has shown time and again the ability to perform on the biggest stages.
In addition to Duke’s lone senior starter, Filipowski will be key in the ACC tournament. While he is just a sophomore, the 7-foot center was recently named to the All-ACC First Team and is the Blue Devils’ leading scorer. At his best, Filipowski has stretched opposing bigs onto the perimeter and disrupted defensive gameplans. However, it will take more than just Filipowski down low for Duke to be successful as it moves forward.
Depth in the frontcourt
Since freshman guard Caleb Foster suffered a lower leg injury against Wake Forest Feb. 24, Scheyer has turned to fellow freshmen TJ Power and Sean Stewart to fill in minutes. Both highly touted prep recruits, Power and Stewart offer distinct skill sets. Power brings a sweet stroke from beyond the arc but is still maturing on defense, while Stewart is a high-motored rebounding machine who sometimes plays too fast for his own good.
Over the past few weeks, Scheyer has given each rookie opportunities to play to their strengths: Stewart came up big with five rebounds and 12 points against N.C. State and Power breathed life into the Blue Devils at the end of the most recent North Carolina game with a clutch three.
“Sean has gone through it this year, and he's just gotten better and better,” Scheyer said after the game against the Wolfpack. “You [can] see Sean provides something that we don't have. He's our best athlete.”
Streaky shooting
Beyond the everlasting worry of foul trouble, the Blue Devils’ biggest barrier to success is their reliance on 3-point shooting to ignite their offense. Duke sits atop the ACC in 3-point percentage at 38.1%, but a strength can all-too quickly turn into a weakness. Part of the reason that North Carolina was able to jump out to a double-digit lead in the first half was the Blue Devils’ abysmal 2-for-11 shooting mark from behind the arc. Duke also shot poorly in the first half against N.C. State March 4, which allowed the Wolfpack to keep the game close for longer than the Blue Devils would have liked.
With that said, Duke’s shooters have shown the ability to regain their shooting stroke even within the same game. In the second half against both Tobacco Road teams, the Blue Devils increased their 3-point marks significantly, completely changing the tone of the game. Freshman Jared McCain, a practitioner of meditation, frequently speaks of clearing his mind before and after every play.
As important as it is to have a short memory when it comes to shooting, Duke should not forget the pain it has felt in its losses.
Vengeance
Last season’s trip to an ACC tournament championship involved beating two teams that the Blue Devils lost to in the regular season — the Hurricanes and the Cavaliers. However, all four teams that beat Duke in the regular season are on the other side of the bracket, meaning that the Blue Devils will not get a shot at redemption until the title game.
Therefore, this point refers more to the vengeance held by the Blue Devils’ opponents. Take Virginia — who was embarrassed to the tune of a 25-point loss to Duke on the road — or Clemson, who likely feels that it should have beaten the Blue Devils when the two sides met Jan. 27. So, as much as Duke is itching to face North Carolina one more time with a chance to cut the nets on the line, it cannot get caught looking past its other talented opponents.
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Dom Fenoglio is a Trinity sophomore and an assistant Blue Zone editor of The Chronicle's 119th volume.