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There were no special announcements pre-game, but if you were familiar with the circumstances surrounding Mike Brey and the Fighting Irish's trip to Durham to face off with Duke, then it was no surprise that Mike Krzyzewski chose tonight to make his return to Cameron Indoor. In what was potentially his final game coaching at Cameron, Mike Brey was joined by his mentor who was watching his first Duke game as a spectator since retiring at the end of last season.
In a somewhat unsurprising turn of events, there was no pomp and circumstance for the return of the legendary Coach K. Outside of an introduction just prior to tipoff, there were no special video packages or ceremonies, which seemed to be exactly how Krzyzewski wanted it. He wasn't there to steal the show, just as a proud mentor with a branch of his coaching tree on each sideline.
I mentioned it "potentially" being Brey's final game as a visiting coach at Cameron Indoor because after it was initially reported that he would be retiring following this season, Brey told Jeff Goodman yesterday that although this is his final season at Notre Dame he plans on continuing to coach, which throws a bit of a wrench into the farewell narrative.
Oh yeah... and there was a basketball game played. And while the spectacle surrounding both Mike Brey and then Coach K may have superseded the hype around the game itself, the basketball didn't disappoint.
Duke carried a 31-23 lead into the locker-room, outscoring Notre Dame 16-6 over the final 9:56 of the first half, after a back-and-forth 10-minute stretch to start the game.
The Blue Devils stretched the lead to as many as 14 to open the second half before a nearly 4-minute scoreless drought allowed the Irish to pull back within 4. Another Duke run would push the lead to double digits before a Notre Dame surge led by Dane Goodwin, who scored 17 straight for the Irish, sprung Notre Dame into striking distance once again.
JJ Starling hit a three with 1:27 remaining to cut the Blue Devil lead to 2 but with the Irish desperately needing a stop, Jeremy Roach maneuvered into the lane and was able to draw contact and a trip to the line with just under a minute to play. Roach split the free throws to extend the Blue Devil lead to three. JJ Starling was again able to answer for the Irish with a tough layup in traffic to cut the lead back to one with 36 seconds remaining.
With a 6-second differential between the shot clock and the game clock, Jeremy Roach dribbled pensively before finally penetrating the defense with just under 10 on the shot clock, this time though instead of attempting to again draw contact with the defense collapsing around him, Roach found a wide-open Mark Mitchell in the corner for wide open three to put the dagger in the Irish. After a quick bucket for the Irish, Tyrese Proctor sealed it with two free throws to give Duke a 68-64 victory.
Duke was led offensively throughout by Freshman forward Kyle Filipowski, who finished the game with 22 points on 9-16 shooting. Despite struggling from three-point range (0-3), Filipowski showed off high-level footwork in the post and his finishing touch around the rim continues to improve which is something I've been particularly critical of at times this season. Dariq Whitehead added 9 points on 3-4 from three-point range in just his second game back after returning from a leg injury.
Duke remains undefeated at home on the season at 13-0 making John Scheyer the first coach in ACC history to win his first 13 career home games, passing Hubert Davis who won his first 12 home games to begin last season at UNC. The Blue Devils are now 18-8 overall on the season and 9-6 in ACC play.
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