Duke vs. Alabama – NIT Season Tip-Off Semifinal

Nov. 27, 2013 • 9:30 p.m.

New York, N.Y. • Madison Square Garden (19,812)

TV: ESPN • RADIO: Blue Devil IMG Sports Network, Westwood One

The Opening Tip

• Duke takes on Alabama in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off in Madison Square Garden Wednesday (9:30 pm - ESPN).

• The Blue Devils are playing their 219th straight game as a top-10 team in the AP poll. Duke is 181-37 (.830) in that span.

• Duke is ranked No. 6 in both the AP and USA Today Coaches’ Polls. The Blue Devils are 112-30 all-time when ranked No. 6 in the AP Poll.

• Duke is 27-15 all-time with a 22-7 mark under Mike Krzyzewski at Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils have won 14 of their last 16 games at MSG.

• The Blue Devils have won 26 consecutive regular-season tournament games and are 77-15 in regular-season tournaments under Coach K.

• Duke is 19-2 in the NIT Season Tip-Off with 13 consecutive victories. Duke’s last Preseason NIT loss came on Nov. 29, 1996 against Indiana.

The Last Time Out

• Jabari Parker scored 19 points in the second half and Rodney Hood hit the game-winning free throw with five seconds left to push Duke past Vermont 91-90 in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

• Parker and Hood combined to score 48 points, including a game-high 26 from Parker and 22 from Hood.

• Duke allowed Vermont to shoot .648 (35-of-54) from the floor for the highest shooting percentage the Blue Devils have allowed since 2010, while the 90 points were the most Duke has allowed in a win since Feb. 22, 2009.

• Quinn Cook and Andre Dawkins also scored in double figures with 14 and 16 points apiece. Cook added eight assists – and just one turnover – while Dawkins hit three three-pointers.

• Parker scored at least 20 points for the sixth straight game, while Hood reached that mark for the fourth time.

By The Numbers

• The Blue Devils are 24-2 all-time in the NIT Season Tip-Off claiming championships in the event in 1985, 2000, 2005 and 2009.

• Jabari Parker has scored 20 or more points in each of the first six games of the season, marking just the second time a Duke player has accomplished that feat. Art Heyman opened the 1961-62 season with 10 straight 20-point games. Parker is also the third Division I freshman in the past 10 years to open his career with six straight 20-point games and the first since Indiana’s Eric Gordon (2007-08).

• Jabari Parker (23.0 ppg.) and Rodney Hood (21.8 ppg.) are the top scoring tandem in the ACC (fourth in the NCAA) at 44.8 points per game. The duo has combined for 10 20-point scoring games, while shooting 91-of-148 (.615) from the field and 21-of-39 (.539) from three-point range. Duke is one of only six teams in the nation with two players averaging at least 20.0 points per game.

• Duke has scored 90 or more points in four of its first six games and ranks sixth in the NCAA in scoring at 92.7 points per game. The Blue Devils are 272-8 under Coach K when scoring 90 or more points in a game.

• Duke (5-1) has not lost more than one game in the month of November since the 1999-00 season. The Blue Devils are 79-4 in the month over the past 14 seasons.

• Duke has seven players shooting better than 50.0 percent from the field. Three – Rodney Hood (.667, 40-of-60), Amile Jefferson (.792, 19-of-24) and Semi Ojeleye (.714, 5-of-7) – are shooting over 60.0 percent. The Blue Devils lead the ACC and rank fourth nationally in field goal percentage.

• Junior Quinn Cook leads the ACC and ranks eighth nationally in assists (7.2 apg.) and leads the ACC in assist-to-turnover ratio (5.4:1). Cook has eight or more assists in four of six games this season and has had more than two turnovers just one time this season.

• Sophomore Amile Jefferson has hit 79.2 percent (19-of-24) of his field goal attempts this season to rank fifth nationally in field goal percentage. Jefferson has made six consecutive field goals.

• Duke has had a double-figure scorer off the bench in five of six games this season. The Duke bench averages 23.3 points per game with graduate student Andre Dawkins averaging a team-high 9.6 points per game off the bench.