3/23/2022

THE OPENING TIP

• In the Sweet 16 for the 28th time as a program, No. 2 Duke faces No. 3 Texas Tech on Thursday night in San Francisco, Calif., in the semifinal of the NCAA Tournament West Regional.
• The game tips at approximately 9:40 p.m. ET on CBS with Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill on the call. On the radio locally, David Shumate and John Roth call the action on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield.
• Duke’s 28 Sweet 16’s are second-most in NCAA history, while the 26 trips by head coach Mike Krzyzewski extend his NCAA record.
• The Blue Devils and Red Raiders have never matched up in the NCAA Tournament and are meeting for just the second time in history.
• A win puts Duke in the Elite Eight for the 23rd time — the 17th time under Coach K to extend his NCAA record — and gives Coach K his 100th career NCAA Tournament victory.
• The Blue Devils own the best winning percentage in NCAA Tournament history at .753 (116-38), while the program’s 116 wins rank third and five championships are fourth most.
• The coach with the most wins in NCAA Tournament history (99-30), Coach K is in his NCAA-record 36th tournament and his .767 tourney win percentage is second to only John Wooden (.825).
• Sophomore Jeremy Roach is the team’s third leading scorer this postseason (ACC and NCAA Tournament) at 12.8 points, while shooting .488 from the field. He scored 15 in the Michigan State win, including 13 in the second half.
• A second-team consensus All-American and the ACC Freshman of the Year, Paolo Banchero is the program’s 75th All-American (52nd under Coach K). He is the 31st consensus pick under Coach K.
• In the postseason, Banchero is averaging team highs in points (16.8), rebounds (8.6) and steals (1.4), to go with 20 assists and a .586 field goal percentage. He has three double-doubles in the postseason.
• Sophomore Mark Williams’ .714 field goal percentage is second on Duke’s single-season list. He would lead the nation, but falls just short of the minimum five field goals per game to qualify (4.9).
• Williams is the nation’s only player shooting .700+ from the field and .700+ free throws (min. 150 FG). Since at least 1992-93, only one other player in college basketball has posted a similar statline.

NCAA TOURNEY SUPREMACY
With five national titles and 116 tournament wins, Duke is among the most successful programs in NCAA Tournament history … Since winning the program’s first title in 1991, Duke’s five titles are the most in the NCAA in this span … Duke’s 24 consecutive appearances between 1996 and 2019 rank tied for the third longest streak in NCAA history … The Blue Devils have played in 36 of the past 38 NCAA Tournaments that have been contested … Duke is 116-38 (.753) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, which is No. 1 in winning percentage and third in wins … The coach with the most wins in NCAA Tournament history (99-30), Mike Krzyzewski is in his NCAA-record 36th tournament. Coach K’s .767 tourney win percentage is second to only John Wooden (.825) … Duke is in the Sweet 16 for the 28th time in program history and the 26th time under Coach K to extend his NCAA record.

DUKE VS. TEXAS TECH
Duke and Texas Tech have met just once previously, with the Blue Devils winning a defensive slugfest at Madison Square Garden, 69-58, on Dec. 20, 2018 … Senior Joey Baker is only remaining Blue Devil from that season … Duke is 40-12 overall versus teams from the Big XII Conference, including 5-2 in the NCAA Tournament.

ON THIS DATE
Duke is 8-3 when playing on March 24 … Duke last played on this date in 2019 — a 77-76 win over UCF in an NCAA Tournament second-round game in Columbia, S.C. … On March 24, 1990, Duke beat UConn on Christian Laettner’s 15-foot buzzer beater, sending the Blue Devils to their third consecutive Final Four … The same day one year later in 1991, Duke beat St. John’s, enabling Coach K to join John Wooden as the only coaches to reach four consecutive Final Fours.

NCAA FIRST & SECOND ROUND NOTABLES
Duke improved to 116-38 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 99-30 under head coach Mike Krzyzewski by beating Cal State Fullerton and Michigan State last week in Greenville, S.C. … Friday’s game vs. CSF marked 1,083 days between Duke’s last NCAA Tournament appearance, which was March 31, 2019 vs. Michigan State in the East Region final in Washington, D.C. … Duke trailed Michigan State, 70-65, with five minutes remaining before closing the game on a 20-6 run … Duke blocked 16 shots in two games, including 10 against CSF — one shy of the team’s NCAA Tournament record for blocked shots (11 vs. Temple on March 26, 1988) … Sophomore Mark Williams became the first Blue Devil in the NCAA Tournament to post consecutive games with 5+ blocked shots … Williams scored 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting with seven rebounds, along with a career-high five assists and a game-high five blocks in the Fullerton win — just the third 15-5-5-5 game in Duke history — Mike Gminski had 23 points, 17 rebounds, five assists and eight blocks vs. Vermont (Dec. 28, 1979) and Danny Ferry had 29 points, 12 rebounds, five assists and five blocks vs. Arizona (Feb. 26, 1989) … Freshman Paolo Banchero became just the fourth Blue Devil to post consecutive NCAA Tournament games with 15+ points, 5+ rebounds and 4+ assists, joining Danny Ferry (1987, 1988), Grant Hill (1994) and Jon Scheyer (2010) … Sophomore Jeremy Roach averaged 13.5 points and made all seven free throws with eight assists. Of his 15 points against Michigan State, 13 came in the clutch second half.

LATE POSTSEASON HEROICS LIFT BLUE DEVILS
Duke has trailed or been tied in the final five minutes of three postseason wins this season — trailed Syracuse, 79-78, with 3:32 remaining in the ACC quarterfinals, was tied with Miami, 65-65, with five minutes left in the ACC semifinals and trailed Michigan State, 70-65, with five minutes remaining in the NCAA second round … Duke closed those games on combined runs of 45-17, including scoring the final 10 points of the Syracuse game, and out-scoring Michigan State, 20-6 … The backcourt combination of sophomore Jeremy Roach (11 points), freshman Trevor Keels (10) and junior Wendell Moore Jr. (10) accounted for 70 percent of Duke’s points in those runs, while freshman Paolo Banchero added seven points … Syracuse was a sizzling 47 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point (13-of-26) range before missing its final nine shots, including five from behind the arc … Duke made clutch free throws and forced Miami’s experienced backcourt into multiple turnovers to pull away … Against Sparty, Duke hit its final five shots from the field, made 8-of-10 free throws, while blocking two MSU shots and getting a timely steal as the 20-6 game-ending run produced an 85-76 win … Keels hit a clutch three to tie the MSU game at 72-72, while Roach’s triple from the left wing put Duke up four 78-74 with 1:15 to play.

DUKE IN NBA ARENAS
For a college team that has produced 21 current NBA players, Duke has been tough to beat when playing in NBA venues … Duke is a combined 90-31 (.744) in 11 current NBA venues … The Blue Devils have won 19 of their last 23 at NBA venues, including a 118-84 win over Kentucky at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in the 2018 Champions Classic, going 3-0 in the 2019 ACC Tournament at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, a win over Virginia Tech in the 2019 Sweet 16 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., beating Kentucky in the Champions Classic this season at MSG, and going 2-1 at the ACC Tournament at Barclays Center in Brooklyn … Duke has never played in Golden State’s Chase Center, but was 0-2 in the Warriors’ previous home, Oracle Arena, falling to Cal in 1982 and Stanford in 2000.

DUKE VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Duke is 238-155 (.606) vs. ranked teams under Coach K, with a 158-83 (.655) mark since the 1996-97 season … Duke has multiple top-10 wins this season — beating then-No. 10 Kentucky in the Champions Classic, 79-71, and then No. 1-Gonzaga in Las Vegas, 84-81 … Of the 20 teams with multiple top-10 wins, only Duke, Texas Tech and Arkansas have one that includes a win over No. 1 … In the Coach K era, Duke is 223-126 (.639) overall when each team is ranked in the Top 25 … 146-87 (.629) overall when each team is ranked in the top 15 … 89-63 (.586) overall when each team is ranked in the top 10 … 34-18 (.654) when each team is ranked in the top five … He has more wins over the AP No. 1 team (7) than any active coach … With the win over No. 3 Virginia on Feb. 9, 2019, Coach K broke a tie with Dean Smith for most wins in top-three games (11).

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