Duke vs. Virginia

Monday, Jan. 13, 2014 • 7:00 p.m.

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

ESPN • Blue Devil IMG Sports Network

The Opening Tip

• Duke returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium to face Virginia on Monday, Jan. 13, at 7 p.m. The game will air on ESPN.

• Duke is ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press and No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Blue Devils are 11-10 all-time when ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll. The No. 16 ranking is Duke’s lowest since Duke was ranked No. 21 on March 8, 2007.

• The Blue Devils are 1-2 in ACC play for the first time since the 2006-07 season. Both of Duke’s ACC losses have come on the road at Notre Dame and at Clemson.

• Duke has held six of its past eight opponents under 70 points, including three of the past five under 60 points.

• Duke has won 25 consecutive games in Cameron Indoor Stadium, tied for the second longest active streak in the nation. Duke is averaging 88.7 points per game at home this season compared to 75.0 in neutral site and road games.

The Last Time Out

• Duke fell 72-59 at Clemson Saturday in Littlejohn Coliseum. Clemson outscored Duke 41-22 in the second half and ended the game on an 18-5 run over the final 7:35.

• Rodney Hood logged his third straight 20-point game for Duke, finishing with a team-high 20 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range.

• Jabari Parker added 15 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Quinn Cook logged eight points and seven assists with just one turnover.

• Clemson overcame Hood and Parker’s production with three players recording a double-double, as Jaron Blossongame (14 points, 14 rebounds), K.J. McDaniels (24 points, 10 rebounds) and Landry Nnoko (10 points, 13 rebounds) all contributed to Clemson outrebounding Duke 48-30.

• Duke shot a season-low .339 (20-of-59) from the field and hit just 8-of-32 (.250) field goals in the second half.

By The Numbers

• Duke is looking to improve to 10-0 on the season at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils have won at least 10 home games in 18 straight seasons and 30 times overall under Mike Krzyzewski.

• Duke has won 23 straight home games against unranked opponents, dating back to a 78-74 overtime loss to Miami on Feb. 5, 2012.

• Duke has lost back-to-back games just once since the 2009-10 season and is 22-1 following a loss during that span. Duke is 3-0 following a loss this season with an average margin of victory of 21.7 points.

• Duke leads the ACC in scoring (82.7 ppg.) and field goal percentage (.484). The Blue Devils have scored 80 or more points 10 times, while shooting 50 percent or better from the field on six occasions.

• Duke averages 21.4 points per game from its bench this season, compared to 10.5 per game in 2012-13. Rasheed Sulaimon averages a team-high 8.9 points per game when coming off the bench, while Andre Dawkins averages 8.2.

• Rodney Hood has scored 20 or more points in each of the last three contests, including a pair of 27-point efforts. He is averaging 24.7 points per game in that span, while shooting .511 (23-of-45) from the field, .591 (13-of-22) from three-point range and .882 (15-of-17) from the free throw line.

• Hood leads the ACC with a .479 (34-of-71) three-point percentage on the year. He has hit a three-pointer in 15 of 16 games and at least one trey in 13 straight outings.

• Duke has at least one 20-point scorer in 15 of 16 games this season. Jabari Parker has a team-high 10 20-point games, followed by Rodney Hood (8, plus one 30-point game), Quinn Cook (3), Andre Dawkins (1) and Rasheed Sulaimon (1).

• Parker’s 10 20-point games are tied for the second most by a Duke freshman. Gene Banks (1977-78) holds the school freshman record with 11 games of 20 or more points scored.

• Andre Dawkins is just one three-pointer shy of becoming the 13th player in Duke history to hit 200 career three-pointers. Dawkins is 199-of-488 (.408) from three-point range for his career to rank fifth at Duke in career three-point percentage and 13th in made three-pointers.

• Quinn Cook ranks among the ACC’s top 10 in assists (6.1, 2nd), free throw percentage (.870, 3rd), minutes (35.6, 4th), assist-to-turnover ratio (3.3, 5th) and steals (1.8, t-6th). He also ranks tied for 18th with 13.6 points per game.

Duke vs. Clemson

January 11, 2014 • 2 p.m.

Clemson, S.C. • Litteljohn Coliseum (10,325)

RSN • WatchESPN • Blue Devil IMG Sports Network

The Opening Tip

• Duke faces Clemson at Littlejohn Coliseum in Clemson, S.C., Saturday in the Blue Devils’ third ACC matchup of the season. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. on RSN.

• Duke is ranked No. 16 in the Associated Press and No. 13 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll. The Blue Devils are 11-9 all-time when ranked No. 16 in the AP Poll.

• The Blue Devils have won six of their past seven games. A 79-77 loss at Notre Dame in the ACC opener on Jan. 4 interrupted a five-game winning streak. Duke rebounded to defeat Georgia Tech 79-57 the next time out.

• Duke has held six of its past seven opponents under 70 points, including three of the past four under 60 points.

• Saturday’s game will be only Duke’s second true road game of the season. Duke has played five times on a neutral court and once – at Notre Dame on Jan. 4 – in an opponents’ gym.

The Last Time Out

• The Blue Devils topped Georgia Tech 79-57 in Cameron Indoor Stadium Tuesday. Rodney Hood scored 27 points in the second straight game, hitting 8-of-12 shots from the field and 5-of-7 from three-point range. Hood connected on his final four shots from beyond the arc.

• Quinn Cook (13 points), Jabari Parker (12), Rasheed Sulaimon (11) and Andre Dawkins (10) also scored in double figures, marking the fifth time this season Duke had five players score at least 10 points in a game.

• Amile Jefferson grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Duke in rebounding for the fifth time in the past seven games.

• Duke shot a season-high .880 (22-of-25) from the free throw line while Georgia Tech did not make a single free throw. Georgia Tech’s 0-of-6 performance marked the first time since Feb. 3, 1982 versus Georgia Tech (0-of-7) that Duke did not allow a made free throw.

By The Numbers

• Duke leads the ACC in scoring (84.3 ppg.) and field goal percentage (.494). The Blue Devils have scored 80 or more points 10 times, while shooting 50 percent or better from the field on six occasions.

• Duke has made more free throws than an opponent has shot in four of the past six games. Against Georgia Tech Tuesday, Duke hit 22-of-25 from the line while the Yellow Jackets finished 0-of-6. On the season, Duke has made 276 free throws, compared to just 301 free throw attempts by the opposition.

• Duke averages 22.3 points per game from its bench this season, compared to 10.5 per game in 2012-13. Rasheed Sulaimon averages a team-high 8.9 points per game when coming off the bench, while Andre Dawkins averages 8.5.

• Rodney Hood has scored 27 points in back-to-back games while hitting eight field goals and five three-point field goals in both contests. Hood is only the 15th Blue Devil in school history to hit at least five three-pointers in back-to-back games.

• Duke has at least one 20-point scorer in 14 of 15 games this season. Jabari Parker has a team-high 10 20-point games, followed by Rodney Hood (7, plus one 30-point game), Quinn Cook (3), Andre Dawkins (1) and Rasheed Sulaimon (1).

• Parker’s 10 20-point games are tied for the second most by a Duke freshman. Gene Banks (1977-78) holds the school freshman record with 11 games of 20 or more points scored.

• Rodney Hood has hit 16 consecutive free throws. He is shooting .859 (67-of-78) from the line this season and leads Duke in made free throws.

• Andre Dawkins is just one three-pointer shy of becoming the 13th player in Duke history to hit 200 career three-pointers. Dawkins is 199-of-484 (.411) from three-point range for his career to rank fifth at Duke in career three-point percentage and 13th in made three-pointers.

• Dawkins leads the ACC with a .471 (32-of-68) three-point shooting percentage. He is averaging 9.4 points in just 14.9 minutes per game.

• Quinn Cook ranks among the ACC’s top 10 in assists (6.1, 2nd), free throw percentage (.870, t-2nd), steals (1.7, t-6th), assist-to-turnover ratio (3.1, 6th) and minutes (35.3, 5th). He also ranks 16th with 14.0 points per game.

• Amile Jefferson is averaging 8.9 rebounds per game over his past seven contests and has led Duke in rebounding five times in that span. Jefferson has three double-figure rebounding games in that stretch.

The Duke Men's Basketball team returns to the court against Georgia Tech tomorrow evening hoping to even its ACC record in the early season.  The Blue Devils fell out of the A.P. top ten for the first time since 2007 this week which ended an amazing streak.

Duke, now ranked 16th in the country, lost their ACC opener on the road against an inspired Notre Dame team which exploited some of the team weaknesses and the hope is for that to be a learning lesson.

Many were shocked by the result, but most never take into account that Duke gets every teams best shot. Besides, this Duke team with its youth was never wired to win early.

As crazy as it sounds, all losses will be forgotten once the annual March Madness starts and many of them will be avenged come tournament time when it really counts.

But between now and then, Duke needs to grasp their learning experiences quickly for the ACC is a pesky league and they have no scheduling favors despite their lineage.

Like any other team, Georgia Tech sees Duke as an opportunity and a measuring stick for their club.

The Yellow Jackets are formidable enough to where you certainly cannot take them lightly. They're also one of the best rebounding teams Duke will have faced and that was a to be a major area of concern , but the injury to Robert Carter has drastically changed their teams outlook.

The Jackets did not adjust well against Maryland in their ACC opener, but it's still a team with some weapons and the key for Duke will be to not allow them confidence.

One would think if history repeats itself, Duke will come out hell-bent on securing a win after an opening day ACC loss. In fact, I think we'll see a no quarter defensive effort and an easy win by nights end.

A key match up to watch will be Georgia Tech point guard, Trae Golden against Quinn Cook. With the injury to Carter they need more points out of their leading scorer.

Another thing I expect to happen is that the Blue Devils will aggressively attack Jackets center Daniel Miller in an effort to get him into foul trouble, for in his absence the paint would be wide open.

So, yes, I expect Duke to right the ship against the 9-5 Yellow Jackets and push their ACC record to 1-1 while navigating their way back towards the nation's top ten.