Duke vs. North Carolina

February 20, 2014 • 9:00 p.m.

Chapel Hill, N.C. • Dean E. Smith Center

ESPN • ACC Network • Blue Devil IMG Sports Network

The Opening Tip

• Duke is in the midst of a stretch that includes four games in eight days. Three of those games are on the road, including Thursday’s matchup against North Carolina at the Dean E. Smith Center at 9 p.m. The game will air on ESPN and the ACC Network, as well as the Blue Devil IMG Sports Network.

• Duke is ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll and No. 6 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Blue Devils are 75-24 all-time when ranked No. 5 in the AP Poll.

• The Blue Devils are 20-2 against unranked opponents this season with their losses coming on the road against ACC foes Notre Dame (77-79) and Clemson (59-72).

• Duke has won four of its past five road games. The only loss during that stretch came at No. 2 Syracuse, 91-89, in overtime. Duke has played on the road in five of its past seven games.

• Duke is 3-1 this season when having one or fewer days between games.

The Last Time Out

• Jabari Parker logged his ACC-leading ninth double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead Duke past Georgia Tech, 68-51, Tuesday at McCamish Pavilion. Parker hit 6-of-12 field goals while adding three blocks and a steal in the rout.

• Duke shot .556 (10-of-18) from three-point range for the team’s highest three-point percentage since shooting .619 (13-of-21) in the season opener against Davidson. Rodney Hood hit 4-of-6 three-pointers against the Yellow Jackets, while Tyler Thornton went 2-of-2 and Andre Dawkins connected on 2-of-3.

• Thornton dished out five assists and did not commit a single turnover as Duke gave the ball away just five times. The five turnovers were Duke’s second fewest in a game this season and fewest since giving it away just four times in the season opener against Davidson.

• Duke held Georgia Tech to just 3-of-9 shooting from three-point range.

By The Numbers

• Duke has won nine of its past 10 games with the lone loss during that stretch coming at the hands of now-No. 1 Syracuse, 91-89, in overtime. Duke has beaten seven of those 10 opponents by 15 points or more.

• Over its past 10 games, Duke is shooting .427 (103-of-241) from three-point range while averaging 10.3 made three-pointers per game. Tyler Thornton (.522, 12-of-33), Rasheed Sulaimon (.514, 18-of-35) and Andre Dawkins (.510, 26-of-51) are all shooting better than 50.0 percent from three-point range during that span.

• Duke ranks fifth in the nation and leads the ACC with a 1.61:1 assist-to-turnover ratio. The Blue Devils have amassed 244 assists to just 79 turnovers and have committed less than 10 turnovers 14 times this season. Tyler Thornton leads Duke with a 4.00:1 assist-to-turnover ratio and owns a 21:1 mark over his past five games.

• Rasheed Sulaimon has scored in double figures in nine of 13 ACC games and averages 11.1 points and 3.3 assists per game in conference play. He leads Duke with 29 assists over his past seven games and owns a 2.63:1 assist-to-turnover ratio during that span.

• Jabari Parker is currently averaging team highs of 19.2 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. He is attempting to become the first Duke freshman to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding. Only two freshmen have led Duke in scoring, and only six have led the team in rebounding. Parker leads the ACC in rebounding and ranks second in scoring.

• Parker was named ACC Rookie of the Week for the league-leading eighth time Monday. He is just two ACC Freshman of the Week awards shy of tying the league record of 10, held by Georgia Tech’s Kenny Anderson (1989-90) and North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough (2005-06).

• Rodney Hood is the only player in the ACC to rank among the league’s top 10 in scoring (8th, 16.2 ppg.), field goal percentage (5th, .478 – 140-of-293), free throw percentage (5th, .837 – 87-of-104), three-point percentage (2nd, .455 – 55-of-121) and made three-pointers per game (6th, 2.1 3pg.).

• Andre Dawkins is 18 points shy of becoming the 63rd Duke player to reach 1,000 points in a career. Dawkins has 982 points in his career and averages a career-high 9.2 per game this season.