Miami Hurricanes meet familiar foe (Duke Blue Devils) in ACC tournament semifinals
For the Miami Hurricanes, this year’s men’s ACC tournament might feel a little bit like last year’s. For the second consecutive season, UM is advancing to the semifinals. And again, the Duke Blue Devils await on the other side of the bracket.
The matchup between the top-seeded Hurricanes and the No. 4 Blue Devils tips off at 7 p.m. Friday at the Greensboro Coliseum. After Miami (25-6) narrowly escaped Wake Forest with a two-point win in Thursday’s quarterfinals, Duke (24-8) thrashed Pittsburgh 96-69.
It’s a rubber match between the Hurricanes and Blue Devils. During the regular season, Duke won in its building — the historic Cameron Indoor Stadium — on Jan. 21 by two points, and then Miami took a lopsided victory at home on Feb. 6, 81-59.
“They’re a great team,” Miami guard Nigel Pack said of Duke. “We lost on their home turf and we won on ours. So, it’s going to be a great chance to show the league that, even though they beat us before, we’re the best team in the league. That’s the chip that we got on our shoulder, and we’re going to go out and prove it tomorrow.”
In Duke’s January win, Miami guard and ACC Player of the Year Isaiah Wong didn’t have his best game, finishing with seven points on 2-of-8 shooting and mustering just one assist against two turnovers. Miami also lost the rebounding battle in that matchup, by six, and Duke sank nine three-pointers.
Wong played better in the second meeting, tallying 11 points, four assists and zero turnovers in 29 minutes.
But what really worked for UM in its win against the Blue Devils was its defense. Duke turned the ball over 21 times and shot just 26.3 percent from three-point land. Miami also outrebounded Duke by seven, and the Canes scored 24 points off those turnovers from the Blue Devils.
Duke is 7-1 since that loss to Miami. The Blue Devils held a players-only meeting after that defeat, and have been rolling since. Its lone loss in the stretch was at Virginia in overtime, which included a controversial call that went against Duke at the end of regulation.
“Obviously, last time we didn’t put our best foot forward, didn’t fight, didn’t compete,” Duke forward Mark Mitchell said. “I’m glad that we have this opportunity to play them again. I think we’re going to be a lot better.”
So, for Miami, the keys to beating Duke seem to be: playing sharp on defense, winning the battle on the glass, and getting a solid game from its star, Wong. He played well for UM against Wake Forest, stuffing the stat sheet with 17 points, five assists, three rebounds and a steal.
Friday will mark Wong’s eighth start in an ACC tournament game.
“I feel like I bring a lot of great experience going into this, my fourth time in the tournament,” Wong said. “It just helps. I feel like it helps the team more, being more composed and taking the pressure.”
Miami will of course also have to account for Duke’s Kyle Filipowski, the ACC Rookie of the Year. The 7-footer averaged 13 points, 11.5 rebounds and two assists in his two previous games against the Hurricanes. He had 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting in 16 minutes against Duke — limited a bit by an ankle injury he suffered in the first half. Filipowski returned in the second half though and is expected to play on Friday.
“We’ll get him back to the hotel, get him seen, and then move forward,” first-year Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “But he looked pretty good to me when he got back out there.”
After Duke’s win over Pitt, Filipowski seemed to be the player most looking forward to another matchup with Miami.
“They’re a real fast team. They have a lot of offensive guys that can put the ball in the hoop,” Filipowski said. “We just have to stay solid throughout the whole game and not let anything get to us mentally.”