Believe it or not, Duke basketball trailed against Virginia on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

The Cavaliers scored the first bucket, but the 10th-ranked Blue Devils bombarded Virginia the rest of the way in a resounding 73-48 rout of the ‘Hoos.

“I just thought our guys came out really ready to play,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said. “The defense was really terrific. … I thought we did such a good job of flowing into offense.”

A first-half windmill dunk by Kyle Filipowski served as the tone-setter for Duke (23-6, 14-4 ACC), which jumped out to a 40-18 halftime. With the win, the Blue Devils remain in contention for an ACC regular-season championship.

In the first meeting with Virginia (21-9, 12-7) since being named the 2023 ACC Tournament MVP, Filipowski had 21 points and seven rebounds.

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The Blue Devils head to Raleigh on Monday (7 p.m., ESPN) to face NC State (17-12, 9-9), which lost at No. 9 UNC (23-6, 15-3) on Saturday.

Here’s what stood out to Scheyer in the Blue Devils’ blowout victory against Virginia.

Kyle Filipowski dominant for Duke basketball

Filipowski, who scored 15 of his 21 points in the first half, has 10 games with 20 or more points this season. It was his first game with 20-plus points since the Blue Devils’ win against Wake Forest on Feb. 12. With seven rebounds, three steals and two assists, it was also one of Filipowski’s best all-around performances of the season.

“Flip, when he’s that way,” Scheyer said, “I don’t think there’s anybody like that in the country.”

Improvement of Duke’s TJ Power and Sean Stewart

With Caleb Foster sidelined due to a foot injury, Scheyer has turned to freshmen Sean Stewart and TJ Power a bit more in the last two games. Both played well off the bench against Virginia as Power knocked down two 3-pointers, and Stewart finished with six points and eight rebounds.

“For TJ, when he’s in, he spaces, he doesn’t over-dribble, he competes on defense, he’s an active body and those other guys are better because of him,” Scheyer said. “Same thing with Sean. Sean, he works all the time. He just has great pop; he’s still learning the game. I thought both those guys just gave us a great lift.”

Tyrese Proctor's all-around performance

Sophomore captain Tyrese Proctor put it all together against Virginia with exceptional defense and a poised command of Duke’s offense. Proctor had 15 points, five assists and four rebounds.

“It reminds me of what he did at the end of last year, except even better. He played a complete game. If it’s a pitcher, he had two turnovers, so it wasn’t a perfect game. But, it’s close,” Scheyer said.

“He’s a big-time competitor. I think sometimes he wants to do so well, and he can be analytical. He’s just throwing himself into competing. There’s nobody better, because he’s a two-way guard. … I thought it was off the charts.”

Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke basketball coach Jon Scheyer breaks down rout of Virginia