Duke set to take on Michigan in Cameron

duke-wf rick c 071Duke vs. Michigan

Big Ten/ACC Challenge

December 3, 2013 • 9:20 p.m.

Durham, N.C. • Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314)

The Opening Tip

• Duke faces Michigan in a Big Ten/ACC Challenge contest Tuesday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It will be the first meeting between the two schools in the 15-year history of the event.

• The Blue Devils are 12-2 all-time in Big Ten/ACC Challenge play, including a 5-0 mark at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

• Duke is ranked No. 10 in both the AP Poll and No. 8 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Blue Devils are 38-13 all-time when ranked No. 10 in the AP Poll.

• The Blue Devils are playing their 220th straight game as a top-10 team in the AP poll. Duke is 181-38 (.827) in that span.

• Either Jabari Parker or Rodney Hood have led Duke in scoring and rebounds in each of the first eight games of the year. The tandem combines to average 43.0 points and 13.0 rebounds per game.

• The Blue Devil

The Last Time Out

• Duke dropped a 72-66 decision to No. 4 Arizona in the title game of the NIT Season Tip-Off. The loss snapped a string of 26 consecutive regular season tournament victories for the Blue Devils.

• Rodney Hood led the team with 21 points and eight rebounds in the loss. He was 8-of-14 from the field and 4-of-5 from the foul line on the night.

• For the first time in his career Jabari Parker was held below the 20-point plateau. He closed the game with 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting. Parker also added three rebounds and two blocks in 38 minutes of action.

• Quinn Cook went 6-of-9 from the field for 13 points, while adding three rebounds and three assists against the Wildcats.

• Arizona went 21-of-26 (.808) from the foul line in the contest and had a nine-point advantage over Duke at the charity stripe. The Blue Devils were 12-of-18 (.667) from the line in the loss.

By The Numbers

• The Blue Devils have won an NCAA-best 106 consecutive non-conference home games. Duke has defeated six ranked non-conference teams at home during that streak.

• Duke is 12-2 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge and is 4-0 when playing Big Ten/ACC Challenge games in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke has never played Michigan in the conference matchup.

• Duke has lost back-to-back games just one time since the 2009-10 season and is 20-1 following a loss during that span. Duke’s only back-to-back losses during that span came in the semifinals of the 2012 ACC Tournament and second round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

• Jabari Parker (23.0 ppg.) and Rodney Hood (20.0 ppg.) are the top scoring tandem in the ACC (third in the NCAA) at 43.0 points per game. The duo has combined for 12 20-point scoring games while shooting 118-of-202 (.584) from the field and 27-of-50 (.540) from three-point range. Duke is one of only four teams in the nation with two players averaging at least 20.0 points per game.

• Duke leads the ACC in scoring at 87.0 points per game. Duke has scored at least 90 points in four of eight games this season. Duke averages 1.23 points per possession, the third best mark in the ACC and tied for 13th best nationally.

• Freshman Jabari Parker began his career with seven consecutive 20-point games, the longest streak to begin a career since Texas’ Kevin Durant began the 2006-07 season with seven straight. Parker and Durant’s streak is the longest by a freshman over the past decade.

• Junior Quinn Cook leads the ACC and ranks 19th nationally in assists (6.0 apg.) and already has eight or more assists in four games. Cook has committed more than two turnovers just twice this season and boasts a 3.4:1 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• Sophomore Amile Jefferson has hit 70.4 percent (19-of-27) of his field goal attempts this season with a clip of at least 50.0 percent in six of eight games.

• Duke has had a double-figure scorer off the bench in six of eight games this season. The Duke bench averages 20.6 points per game with sophomore Rasheed Sulaimon averaging a team-high 10.5 points per game in four games off the bench and graduate student Andre Dawkins averaging 7.3.