PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Last time Pitt beat Duke on a neutral site, Jeff Capel was on the other side and Levance Fields was making a name for himself hitting an overtime winner at Madison Square Garden. Now the first-ever tournament matchup Thursday at 2:30p on 93.7 The Fan in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals.
Last meeting (Duke 77-69 at Cameron Indoor Stadium, January 11)
· After some feeling out in the first half, Pitt used a 12-2 run to take at 12-point lead with 9:35 to play before halftime. The Panthers led by 11 at the break shooting 57% from the floor, while the Blue Devils shot 30%. Halfway through the second half a 15-0 run gave Duke a seven-point lead. The Panthers would get it back to four with 1:03 to play, but Duke made its free throws
· Duke outscored Pitt 45-26 in the second half
· Duke outrebounded Pitt 51-28 (24 offensive)
· Duke +11 second chance points, +13 fast break points
· Duke had a 34-20 advantage points in the paint
· Pitt was 6-22 from 3
· Jamarius Burton led Pitt with 16 points
· Federiko Federiko had 4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 fouls
· Kyle Filipowski 28 points, 15 rebounds
“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,” Burton said. “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.”
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Blue bloods
It’s a job Capel said he never went after or desired to have, the man to replace Mike Krzyzewski is another former Blue Devil star player, Jon Scheyer.
“Jon has done a heck of a job, and I'm not surprised,” Capel said (1-4 all-time vs Duke). “When he joined the staff at Duke, I could see right away -- and I knew Jon. I had met him, but I didn't really know him. 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. I think we worked together for I think it was five years, and you just saw him become more confident and to grow and to get better. He's a guy that wants to be really good. He's passionate about what he does.”
“When you look at the circumstances, you're taking over for (Mike Krzyzewski) look, I think he's the greatest coach ever. There's no more pressure than that. I think he's handled everything in an unbelievable fashion. Those guys have gotten better. There's a lot of expectations and pressure on Jon, on the guys in that program, and I think he and his staff have done a really good job of managing that, managing expectations and helping them just get better week by week.
“They're playing with a lot of confidence. Obviously, they're really talented. They've always been talented, but they've grown up because they've taken some lumps and they've stayed together.”
Duke recently
· 23-8 overall, 14-6 ACC, 4-6 away, 3-2 at neutral site
· Won 6 straight games including NC State and North Carolina
· Kyle Filipowski 15p, 9.2 rebounds-ACC Rookie of the Year
· Jeremy Roach 13.1p, 3.2 assists
· 4 losses to ranked teams, no losses to losing teams
“Yeah, it seemed like forever ago,” Capel of when they last played. “They're really good. They're probably the hottest team in the league. I think they've won six in a row. Those freshmen have grown up. 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.”
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