BLACKSBURG, Va. — Jeremy Roach scored 16 points off the bench to lead No. 7 Duke to a 77-67 victory over Virginia Tech on Monday night.
Bothered by knee and ankle injuries of late, Roach shot 5 of 11 from the floor and made four 3-pointers for the Blue Devils (16-4, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who have won three straight games and 11 of 12 heading into Saturday’s showdown with UNC in Chapel Hill.
“I thought our team just had great togetherness,” coach Jon Scheyer said. “We hit some timely 3s and some guys stepped up in key moments. … Proud of this win. You get a chance to play two games in three days (Duke played Clemson on Saturday), and to win both of them is really good. Looking forward to building it from here.”
MJ Collins paced the Hokies (13-8, 5-5) with 17 points. Virginia Tech had its three-game winning streak snapped.
Duke grabbed the lead with a 12-0 run in the first half and never relinquished it. The Hokies cut a 35-29 halftime deficit to three on three occasions in the second half, with the final time coming on Hunter Cattoor’s 3-pointer with 14:07 remaining.
The Blue Devils, though, gradually pulled away behind 59.3% shooting in the final 20 minutes (16 of 27). Kyle Filipowski added 14 points for Duke, and Tyrese Proctor finished with 12.
Cattoor had 15 points for the Hokies. Sean Pedulla and Lynn Kidd scored 12 apiece.
“We had our shots and squandered some opportunities,” Virginia Tech coach Mike Young said. “But I tip my cap on this particular evening to their team, to their players and Jon. They had a good plan. They did a nice job. Nothing more than that.”
East Carolina 70, Temple 64 (OT)
GREENVILLE — RJ Felton scored 24 points and Jaden Walker added five in the overtime as East Carolina beat Temple 70-64 on Sunday night.
Felton added 11 rebounds and three steals for the Pirates (11-10, 4-4 American Athletic Conference). Bobby Pettiford scored 12 points and added five rebounds. Walker shot finished with 10 points.
Joran Riley led the way for the Owls (8-13, 1-7) with 20 points and eight rebounds. Hysier Miller added 16 points and two steals for Temple. In addition, Shane Dezonie had 12 points and nine rebounds. The loss was the Owls’ sixth in a row.
Felton put up 10 points in the first half for East Carolina, who led 27-26 at halftime. East Carolina was outscored by one point in the second half and the teams finished regulation tied 60-60.
Felton made two free throws with 13 seconds remaining in regulation that made it 60-all and Miller missed a potential winning layup just before the buzzer.
