Sophomore Mark Mitchell had 23 points and 14 rebounds to record his first career double-double, helping No. 14 Duke to a 67-59 victory against Notre Dame on Saturday night in South Bend, Ind.
Jeremy Roach’s 18 points and Jared McCain’s 11 aided Duke (11-3, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) on a night where the team’s overall shooting wasn’t up to par. The Blue Devils shot just 35.6 percent from the field, but they still won their sixth straight.
Mitchell, however, made 8 of 12 shots.
Markus Burton finished with 18 points and Braeden Shrewsberry added 12 to lead Notre Dame (6-9, 1-3), which was hurt by 8-of-16 shooting on free throws. Kebba Njie supplied nine points and 10 boards.
Duke center Kyle Filipowski missed his first seven field-goal attempts, but he drilled a 3-pointer with 9:59 left in the game for a 49-41 lead. He finished 2-for-12 from the floor with seven points and a team-high four assists.
In the second half, the Blue Devils had a stretch of over 10 minutes where they only made four field goals, all of which were 3-pointers. Duke’s lack of scoring during that time allowed the Irish to stay within striking distance.
After Notre Dame’s Tae Davis drove for a basket that closed the gap to 57-55 with 2:44 remaining in the second half, Filipowski dunked but missed an ensuing free throw. Mitchell’s next basket put Duke up 61-55 going into the final minute.
Roach went 6-for-6 on free throws in the final 29 seconds to help seal the outcome.
Duke ended the first half with a flourish and then scored the first five points after halftime.
Notre Dame, wrapping up a six-game homestand that recently included a rout of Virginia and Wednesday night’s two-point loss to North Carolina State, was hurt by 14 turnovers and 5-for-19 shooting on 3-pointers.
Duke used a 14-3 run across the final 6:45 of the first half to grab a 29-27 edge at the break. Roach had five points during the surge, while Mitchell had four.
–Field Level Media
