Roach scores season high as Duke defeats Xavier

PORTLAND, OR — Duke junior guard Jeremy Roach put in 21 points and five assists as the No. 8 ranked Blue Devils defeated Xavier 71-64 in the Phil Knight Legacy tournament in Portland.

Duke improves to 6-1 on the year so far and advances from the semifinals to the Phil Knight Legacy championship game. The Blue Devils edged out yet another single-digit victory in the tournament following their close win over Oregon State yesterday.

Roach led the way for Duke in the first half along with freshman big man Kyle Filipowski, who scored 12 points, grabbed four rebounds and snatched four steals in the contests as well. 13 points from Xavier guard Adam Kunkel kept the Musketeers in reach, but the Blue Devils held the lead for the majority of the first half as they went into the halftime break up six.

Out of the halftime break, freshman wing Mark Mitchell scored seven points in the opening minutes of the half, including a pair of layups, and a 3-pointer that gave Duke their largest lead of the game at 49-36. Mitchell led the way for the Blue Devils in the second half finishing with 16 points on 6 of 11 shooting from the field.

Despite all hope appearing to be lost for the Musketeers, Xavier would go on a run led by guard Souley Boum to bring them within three. Boum sparked a second-half comeback behind his 23 points in 37 minutes of action.

Xavier’s run proved to be too little too late in the end as buckets from Roach and Ryan Young extended their lead to seven with less than two minutes to go. Duke’s stout defense proved to be the difference maker in this one, as Filipowski held Xavier leading scorer Jack Nudge to 1 of 13 shooting from the field and finished with just five points.

“We like to play inside out but I mean, when guys are hitting shots it just opens up for everybody else,” Roach said after the game. “Just try to continue to be consistent in hitting shots and I think we’ll be fine.”

Duke will face the winner between Gonzaga and Purdue tonight in the championship game on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. ET live on ABC.