Duke vs Michigan State Game Notes

a houstonDuke (33-4, 15-3 ACC) vs. Michigan State (27-11, 12-6 Big Ten)

Saturday, April 4, 2015 • 6:09 p.m. (EST) • TBS

Indianapolis, Ind. • Lucas Oil Stadium • NCAA Tournament Final Four

The Opening Tip

• Duke (33-4, 15-3 ACC) faces Michigan State (27-11, 12-6 Big Ten) Saturday, April 4 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Tipoff is set for 6:09 p.m. (EST) with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson calling the action for TBS.

• The Blue Devils were tabbed the No. 1 seed in the South Region. Duke has received a No. 1 seed 13 times, second-most in NCAA Tournament history. The Blue Devils are 49-9 (.845) as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

• Duke is 103-34 (.752) all-time in NCAA Tournament play, including an 86-26 (.768) mark under head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

• Mike Krzyzewski has led Duke to the Final Four 12 times, tied for the most in NCAA history. Krzyzewski is 8-3 (.727) in national semifinal games.

• The Blue Devils enter Saturday’s game ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll and No. 5 in the USA Today Coaches Poll. Duke is 79-15 (.840) overall when ranked No. 4 in the AP Poll.

• Duke is playing its 291st consecutive game as a ranked team in the AP Poll. The Blue Devils are 241-49 (.831) in that span.

• Michigan State is ranked No. 23 in the AP Poll and No. 22 in the Coaches Poll. Duke is 8-2 (.800) all-time against the No. 23 team in the AP Poll.

• Duke is 9-2 (.818) on the year against ranked opponents, including a 5-1 (.833) mark against teams ranked in the top 10 of the AP Poll.

• The Blue Devils are 8-2 (.800) in NCAA Tournament play in the state of Indiana. Duke is 7-2 (.778) in Indianapolis, including a 3-1 (.750) mark at Lucas Oil Stadium.

• Duke completed NCAA Tournament championship runs in Indianapolis in 1991 and 2010.

• Duke has limited its four NCAA Tournament opponents to 53.5 points per game on 36.8 percent (86-of-234) shooting from the field.

• The Blue Devils are shooting 50.0 percent (105-of-210) from the field, including 42.9 percent (27-of-63) from three-point range in NCAA Tournament play.

By the numbers

• Jahlil Okafor has averaged 17.5 points and 8.7 rebounds per game to earn consensus first team All-America status. He is the 18th Duke player overall and just the second freshman (Jabari Parker - 2014) to accomplish that feat.

• Quinn Cook, a Sporting News second team All-America selection, is averaging a career-high 15.5 points per game while also posting career bests in field goal percentage (.453), three-point percentage (.401), three-point field goals (2.73 3pg.) and free throw percentage (.887).

• Duke is the only team in the NCAA with three freshmen averaging double figures in scoring. Jahlil Okafor (17.5 ppg.), Justise Winslow (12.5 ppg.) and Tyus Jones (11.6 ppg.) combine for 41.6 points per game (52.3 percent of Duke scoring). The trio has combined for 40 or more points in a game 23 times this season. The Blue Devils are 21-2 when the trio combines to score 40 or more points in a game.

• Justise Winslow is averaging 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.5 steals in NCAA Tournament play. He is shooting 51.3 percent (20-of-39) from the field, including 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from three-point range.

• A freshman has led the Blue Devils in scoring in 27 of 37 games. Jahlil Okafor has paced the offensive attack 14 times, while Tyus Jones (7), Justise Winslow (5) and Grayson Allen (1) have also led Duke in scoring. The rookie class has also accounted for 25 of Duke’s 32 20-point games on the year (Okafor 14, Jones 6, Winslow 4, Allen 1).

• Duke’s starting backcourt of Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones has combined to shoot 88.8 percent (229-of-258) from the free throw line. The remaining six players in the Duke rotation are 312-of-518 (.602) from the charity stripe.

• Jahlil Okafor leads the ACC and ranks second nationally with a .668 field goal percentage (267-of-400). He has shot 70 percent or better from the field 20 times on the year. Okafor’s field goal percentage is second-best in Duke history, trailing only Christian Laettner’s .723 (115-of-159) field goal percentage as a freshman in 1989.

• Justise Winslow is averaging 14.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while shooting 54.2 percent (97-of-179) from the field, including 51.1 percent (23-of-45) from three-point range, over the past 18 games. He has scored in double figures in 17 of the 18 contests and has seven double-doubles in that span.

• Justise Winslow is averaging 6.3 rebounds per game. He is looking to become the second player 6-6 or under to average 6.0 rpg. under Coach K. Chris Carrawell averaged 6.1 rpg. in 1999-2000.

• Tyus Jones is averaging 16.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.4 steals per game against ranked opponents. He has scored in double figures in all 10 games, including three 20+ point efforts.

• Jahlil Okafor has scored 629 points on the season to become the second Duke freshman and the seventh ACC rookie to top the 600-point mark. Jabari Parker holds the Duke freshmen scoring record with 670 points.

• Duke is shooting 41.7 percent from three-point range against ranked opponents. Quinn Cook leads the way at 45.0 percent (27-of-60), while Justise Winslow is shooting 44.8 percent (13-of-29) from long range in those matchups.

• Tyus Jones ranks in the top three in the Duke freshman record books in assist-to-turnover ratio (1st - 2.86:1), assists (3rd - 212), made free throws (2nd - 135), minutes played (2nd - 1,247) and games started (2nd - 37).