NCAA Basketball: North Carolina, Gonzaga tumble on latest top 25 power ranking
By Joey Loose
13. Duke (8-2)
The Blue Devils are leaning heavily on a lot of new faces this season, including that of new head coach Jon Scheyer. While not every piece of this highly-touted recruiting class has carried its weight, the Blue Devils have to be impressed with how Kyle Filipowski in particular is playing through the first four weeks of the season. Duke has lost a pair of games to two elite teams, but has mostly taken care of business against everyone, a trend that continued this season with their first-ranked win of the season.
Hosting the Buckeyes during the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, the Blue Devils got an 81-72 win over #25 Ohio State. Filipowski led the way with 16 points and 7 rebounds while Jeremy Roach had 13 points and 5 assists in the victory. Three days later, the Blue Devils had an easier time as they began ACC play with a 75-59 win over Boston College. Mark Mitchell, another stud freshman, had 15 points in the win while Filipowski (13 points, 10 rebounds) contributed a double-double.
One thing that has troubled the Blue Devils is their shooting, especially from long range. The defense has held up, for the most part, this season, but those nights with cold shooting haven’t been pretty for the Blue Devils, making just five combined 3-pointers in their two losses. This week was a step in the right direction for the offense. An intriguing matchup with Iowa awaits for next week as the Blue Devils look to assert themselves again as a top team.