Game 5   •  NIT Season Tip-Off Semifinal

Duke (4-0) vs. Arizona State (4-0)

Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2009  •  9:00 p.m.  •  espn2

Madison Square Garden (19,763)  •  New York, N.Y.

The Opening Tip

Duke (4-0), ranked ninth in the AP poll and eighth in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ Poll, faces Arizona State (4-0) on Wednesday, Nov. 25 at 9:00 p.m in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off. Wednesday’s contest will be aired by espn2 with Dan Shulman, Dick Vitale and Doris Burke calling the action.

The Last Time Out

Duke is coming off a 104-67 win over Radford on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Junior Nolan Smith and freshman Andre Dawkins each scored 20 points to pace the offense.

The Blue Devils knocked down 18 three-point field goals, including six by Dawkins, to match a school record. Duke drained 13 three-pointers in the opening half to jump out to a 59-34 advantage.

Senior Jon Scheyer added 18 points and seven assists, while Kyle Singler (13) and Miles Plumlee (12) also reached double figures in scoring. Plumlee added a team-high 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double. Singler added seven rebounds and seven assists for his third career game with seven or more points, rebounds and assists. He is just the 10th Blue Devil to accomplish that feat three times in a career.

NIT Season Tip-Off History

Duke is 20-2 all-time in the NIT Season Tip-Off, including an 8-2 mark at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils have won 10 straight games in the tournament. Duke won NIT Season Tip-Off championships in 1985, 2000 and 2005.

Numbers Game

l Duke is 25-2 in in-season tournaments over the past nine seasons. The Blue Devils have won nine straight in-season tournament games.

l Duke is 23-14 all-time, including an 18-6 mark under Mike Krzyzewski, at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils have won three straight and 10 of their last 11 games at MSG.

l The Blue Devils have won four straight games and are 23-16 all-time against Pac-10 opponents. Duke’s last game against a Pac-10 foe was a 84-73 win over UCLA on Nov. 30, 2002.

l The Blue Devils are 100-10 in the month of November under Coach K. Duke has won 20 straight games in the month, dating back to a Nov. 21, 2006 loss to Marquette.

l Dating back to the final game of last season, Jon Scheyer has played 149 minutes without committing a turnover.

l Junior Nolan Smith has opened his season with back-to-back 20-point scoring games, after recording just one 20-point game during his first two seasons at Duke. Smith leads the team in scoring (22.0 ppg.), assists (6.0 apg.) and three-point percentage (.600, 6-of-10).

l Jon Scheyer has 21 assists and zero turnovers in 131 minutes of action on the year. The Northbrook, Ill., native is the first Duke starting point guard to record over 20 assists before registering a turnover to open a season.

l Sophomore Miles Plumlee is averaging 11.8 points and 9.3 rebounds per game after recording 1.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per game a year ago. He has scored in double figures in all four games this season and has recorded double-doubles in each of the last two games.

l Kyle Singler has scored in double figures in 19 straight games and in 63 of 75 career contests.

l Duke has combined to make 30 three-point field goals in its last two games. The Blue Devils are 30-of-53 (.566) from three-point distance in that span. Senior Jon Scheyer has a team-high eight three-pointers, while freshman Andre Dawkins has seven in the last two games.

l The Blue Devils are averaging 23.0 assists over their last two contests. Duke has recorded an assist on 63.9 percent (72 field goals, 46 assists) of its field goals in that span. Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith each have 12 assists in the last two games.

l Duke scored 104 points and had just eight turnovers in Saturday’s win over Radford, marking the 13th time in school history that Duke has scored over 100 points, while turning the ball over fewer than 10 times.

l The Blue Devils have had less than 10 turnovers in each of the last two games and are averaging just 10.5 turnover per game on the season. Duke leads the ACC in turnover margin at +4.5 turnovers per game.