Duke Basketball

Duke at UNC Game Notes

JahlilDuke (27-3, 14-3) at [19/19] North Carolina (21-9, 11-6)

Saturday, March 7, 2015 • 9:10 p.m. • ESPN

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

 

the Opening Tip

  • Duke (27-3, 14-3) concludes the regular season against North Carolina (21-9, 11-6) Saturday, March 7 at the Dean E. Smith Center. Tipoff is set for 9:10 p.m. with Dan Shulman, Jay Bilas and Shannon Spake calling the action for ESPN.
  • The Blue Devils enter the game ranked No. 3 in both the AP Poll and USA Today Coaches Poll. Duke has won four straight games and is 114-23 overall when ranked No. 3 in the AP Poll.
  • North Carolina enters the contest ranked No. 19 in the AP Poll. Duke is 11-7 all-time against the No. 19 team in the poll.
  • The Blue Devils are ranked No. 4 in the latest Ratings Percentage Index with a 5-1 mark against  teams rated in the top 25.  Three of Duke’s five wins against the top 25 have come on the road (at Wisconsin, at Louisville, at Virginia). Duke’s road/neutral site RPI is ranked No. 1 in the NCAA.
  • Duke has won 10 straight games, the program’s fifth double-digit win streak this decade.

 

Last Time Out

  • Duke capped off its home schedule with a commanding 94-51 win over Wake Forest Wednesday.  Five Blue Devils scored in double figures with Grayson Allen leading the way with a season-high 27 points.
  • Allen was 9-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point range, and 5-of-6 from the foul line en route to his first career 20-point game.
  • Justise Winslow had an outstanding all-around game, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds, seven assists and six steals in 25 minutes of action, while Matt Jones tallied 17 points and four rebounds.
  • Quinn Cook (13) and Tyus Jones (10) combined for 23 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and three steals.
  • Duke raced out to a 52-15 halftime lead with the 37-point margin tied for the ninth largest gap at intermission in program history.

 

By the numbers

  • Jahlil Okafor leads the team in scoring (17.8 ppg.), rebounds (9.4 rpg.) and field goal percentage (.665). He is attempting to become the first freshman to lead Duke in all three categories.
  • Quinn Cook is averaging a career-high 15.8 points per game while also posting career bests in field goal percentage (.459), three-point percentage (.404), three-point field goals (2.80 3pg.) and free throw percentage (.882).
  • Duke is the only team in the NCAA with three freshmen averaging double figures in scoring. Jahlil Okafor (17.8 ppg.), Justise Winslow (12.4 ppg.) and Tyus Jones (11.4 ppg.) combine for 41.6 points per game (51.2 percent of Duke scoring).
  • The freshmen trio of Tyus Jones, Jahlil Okafor and Justise Winslow has been together in Duke’s starting lineup 29 times. Mike Krzyzewski has started three or more freshmen in a game 64 times at Duke.
  • A freshman has led the Blue Devils in scoring in 22 of 30 games. Jahlil Okafor has paced the offensive attack 12 times, while Tyus Jones (6), Justise Winslow (3) and Grayson Allen (1) have also led Duke in scoring. The rookie class has also accounted for 20 of Duke’s 25 20-point games on the year (Okafor 11, Jones 5, Winslow 3, Allen 1).
  • Quinn Cook has made at least one three-point field goal in each of the past 40 games, the eighth-longest streak in ACC history. He is shooting 40.9 percent (106-of-259) from behind the arc in that stretch.
  • Duke’s starting backcourt of Quinn Cook and Tyus Jones has combined to shoot 87.6 percent (183-of-209) from the free throw line. The remaining six players are 299-of-493 (.606) from the charity stripe.
  • Justise Winslow has scored in double figures in each of the past 11 games and is averaging 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game while shooting 55.2 percent (64-of-116) from the field, including 51.9 percent (14-of-27) from three-point range, in that span.
  • Jahlil Okafor leads the ACC and ranks second nationally with a .665 field goal percentage (214-of-322). He has shot 70 percent or better from the field 17 times on the year.
  • Tyus Jones leads the Blue Devils in assists (170) and steals (44). Tommy Amaker (1984), Bobby Hurley (1990) and Jason Williams (2000) are the only Blue Devils to lead the team in both categories as freshmen.
  • Matt Jones is averaging 8.8 points per game over the past 10 contests. He has scored in double figures three times in that span.
  • Duke leads the ACC in scoring at 81.2 points per game. The Blue Devils are looking to pace the conference in scoring in back-to-back years for the first time since finishing atop the league scoring charts from 1997-2003.
  • Duke is playing its 284th consecutive game as a ranked team in the AP Poll. The Blue Devils are 235-48 (.830) in that span.
  • Duke has shot 50 percent or better from the field  15 times on the year. The Blue Devils are 15-0 in those contests and 488-31 under Mike Krzyzewski when shooting 50 percent or better from the floor.
  • Duke placed a school record five players (Grayson Allen, Amile Jefferson, Tyus Jones, Marshall Plumlee and Justise Winslow) on the All-ACC Academic Team.
  • The Blue Devils are 6-1 on the season against ranked opponents, including a 3-1 mark in true road games versus ranked foes.