Emotions Run High As Duke Tops Pitt

Capel's return, tribute to Kobe, precede ACC battle.

In an emotional night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, No. 9 Duke defeated visiting Pittsburgh, 79-67.

The game marked Jeff Capel’s return to Cameron Indoor Stadium. A four-year starter as a player at Duke in the 1990s, Capel also coached on Mike Krzyzewski’s staff for seven seasons, helping to recruit many of the one-and-done players that formed the backbone of Duke’s teams over the last decade. Capel also served as interim coach when Coach K missed a handful of games due to various health problems.

“I love Jeff,” Krzyzewski said. “Jeff is my son, man. We’re part of a brotherhood. Playing against him is very difficult. I don’t like it.”

Ratcheting up the emotion even higher was the recent death of Kobe Bryant, a former player for Coach K on Team USA as well as a friend of the program.

“The last couple days have been really emotional,” Krzyzewski said. “Look, Kobe was one of my players. I coached him on three teams, he was my leader. We had special moments, private and public.”

Both teams wore commemorative jerseys in Lakers colors, with Kobe’s 24 on the back and his 8 on the front. Coach K wore one to his postgame press conference as well. The railing to the upper deck at Cameron was wrapped with ribbons in Lakers colors, and, before the opening tip, the arena observed a 24.8 second moment of silence.

Once the game started, the two teams went back and forth. Duke jumped out to a 9-2 lead, only to have Pitt storm back with a 10-0 run. The Blue Devils eventually took control of the game, leading by 11 at half and as much as 18 in the second half.

Pitt wouldn’t go away, however, cutting the lead to three with 4:28 remaining. Duke called a timeout and came out on an 11-0 run to salt away the game.

The Blue Devils were led by Vernon Carey, who had his ninth double-double of the year but first in ACC play. The freshman big man had 26 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

Point guard Tre Jones had 14 points, eight assists and no turnovers, while Jordan Goldwire had a career-high 13 points.

The Blue Devils moved to 17-3, 7-2 in the ACC and will travel to Syracuse on Saturday.