Whitehead, Duke outlast Boston College in final seconds

CHESTNUT HILL, MA — Clutch free throws in the final seconds from Duke freshman Kyle Filipowski lead the No. 16 ranked Blue Devils to a 65-64 win over Boston College on Saturday.

In an ACC matchup in which Duke led by as much as 14 in the second half, the Blue Devils later trailed by a point with just 12 seconds to go. The Eagles sparked a 15-2 run midway through the second half as the Blue Devils went on a scoring drought on the other end, making this a nail-biter down the stretch.

The Blue Devils (12-4, 3-2 ACC) were without the help of junior guard Jeremy Roach, who missed Saturday’s game with a toe injury he re-aggravated in their loss to NC State on Wednesday.

Boston College (8-8, 2-3 ACC) kept within arms reach of Duke throughout the first half, never trailing by more than eight despite allowing 18 of Duke’s 37 first-half points to come in the paint. The Blue Devils shot nearly 50% from the field in the first half thanks in large part to the effort from freshmen forwards Dariq Whitehead and Mark Mitchell.

Whitehead scored 13 of his season-high 18 points in the first half while Mitchell scored 9 of his 14 through the first 20 minutes.

Today marked Whitehead’s second career start and his fourth consecutive game scoring in double figures. Over the last four games, Whitehead is averaging 15.2 points on 47% shooting from the field and 42% from beyond the arc.

Duke sparked a 15-5 run out of the halftime break as Kyle Filipowski began feasting down low, giving Duke a 52-38 lead at the 15-minute mark in the second half. The Eagles would immediately respond with a 12-2 run of their own to tie the game up at 54 with eight minutes left to play.

Boston College was led by forward Quinten Post, who finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Post’s scoring surge in the second half closed the deficit for the Eagles at the most crucial point in the game.

The Eagles and Blue Devils took turns missing field goals down the stretch. For the final nine minutes of the game, Duke would shoot 1-for-14 from the field but converted on nine of their last 10 free throws in that time to edge them over Boston College in the final seconds.

“This was a big-time game, a big-time ACC road game for us,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after. “We knew coming in off the game we had Wednesday night, we learned a lot. For us to be in an end-of-game situation like that, I think we grew up a lot.”

Duke returns to action this upcoming Wednesday at home when they face ACC foe Pitt at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network.