By Skip Coopersmith

3 31 2024

DUKE GAME NOTES

https://goduke.com/documents/2024/3/30/NCAAT_RegionFinal__03-31-24_.pdf

Trip to Final Four on the Line in First NCAA Tournament Meeting between Blue Devils and Wolfpack

The Opening Tip

• No. 4-seed Duke reunites with No. 11-seed NC State on Sunday, March 31, in the NCAA Tournament South Regional Final with a trip to the Final Four on the line.
• Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson will call the action on CBS. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.  Ryan Radtke and PJ Carlisemo will describe the game on Westwood One.
• Sunday will be 267th hardwood meeting between the Blue Devils and Wolfpack, including the third matchup this March, but the first clash in the NCAA Tournament.
• Duke will play in its 24th all-time Elite Eight on Sunday, marking the third-most Elite Eight appearances by any team.
• Duke has advanced to the Elite Eight in four of its last five NCAA Tournaments.
• The Blue Devils are 122-40 (.753) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, the best winning percentage in tournament history by a team with a minimum of 20 games played.
• Duke is making its 46th appearance in the NCAA Tournament – fifth most in NCAA history.
• Jon Scheyer leads Duke into the tournament for the second straight season and has steered the Blue Devils to a top-five seed in each of his first two campaigns.
• Through three NCAA Tournament games, Duke has held each opponent to fewer than 60 points (47-55-51). The only other times the Blue Devils limited three consecutive NCAA Tournament foes to less than 60 points was in 2015 and 2010.
• Duke has been ranked inside the top-25 for the entirety of the 2023-24 season and achieved 25 victories for the 16th consecutive season (not impacted by COVID-19).
• The Blue Devils are among the nation’s top 25 in scoring margin (+13.0/11th), field goal percentage (.480/24th), 3-point field goal percentage (.380/13th) and assist/turnover ratio (1.59/17th).
• Ryan Young achieved a remarkable plus/minus of +18 against No. 2 Houston on Friday. The next best by any player in the game was +6 by Houston’s Jamal Shead.
• Among ACC leaders, Kyle Filipowski ranks 10th in scoring (16.6 ppg), sixth in rebounding (8.3 rpg), third in blocked shots (1.5 bpg) and seventh in field goal percentage (.512).
• Tyrese Proctor ranks 25th nationally in assist/turnover ratio (2.92), and has 41 assists with just 11 turnovers in his last 10 outings.

Flip’s Sophomore Season Elevation

• Sophomore center Kyle Filipowski has improved in nearly all statistical categories from his rookie campaign, most notably in blocks and assists.
• Filipowski has tallied 99 assists (56 in 2022-23) and blocked 54 shots, after swatting a total of 26 attempts during his freshman year.
• The 7-footer has tallied nine double-doubles this season, moving his career total to 25 double-doubles in 71 games played.
• “Flip” has scored 20 or more points 12 times this season, including a career-high 30 points versus Georgia Tech (Jan. 30), after reaching 20 points six times as a freshman.
• He has distributed three-plus assists 23 times during his career, with 18 of those coming during his sophomore campaign.
• Filipowski scored 26 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field at Pittsburgh (Jan. 9), marking the best shooting performance by a Blue Devil with at least 10 attempts since Zion Williamson finished 13-of-13 against Syracuse on March 14, 2019.
• He amassed a career-high 30 points with 13 boards, four assists, two blocked shots and two steals without committing a turnover versus Georgia Tech (Jan. 13), becoming the first Duke player with a 30-point double-double and no turnovers in the past 40 seasons.
• The sophomore center was just two assists shy of triple-double with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight helpers versus Hofstra (Dec. 12).
• Filipowski is the 69th Blue Devil all-time to reach 1,000 points, having landed on the exact number following his 17-point outing at Wake Forest on Feb. 24, and only the seventh Blue Devil in the past 50 years to score 1,000 career points in their first two seasons.
• Filipowski became a consensus Second Team All-American, with citations from the Associated Press (AP), U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC).
• The sophomore is the only underclassman on each of the three, 15-player, All-America teams and the first Duke consensus Second Team All-American since Paolo Banchero in 2022.
• The Westtown, New York, native also earned First Team All-District recognition from the NABC, his second consecutive season doing so – the first Blue Devil to bring in back-to-back All-District honors since Luke Kennard did so in both 2016 and 2017.
• With Filipowski’s All-District honor, Duke extends its streak to 17 consecutive seasons with at least one All-District selection.

Emergence of McCain

• After averaging 7.6 points per outing in the first eight games of the season, Jared McCain has reached the 20-point mark eight times since then, averaging 15.5 points per game as the team’s second-leading scorer during that stretch.
• The freshman guard scored a career-high 35 points in a road win at Florida State (Feb. 17), matching the Duke freshman scoring record set by Zion Williamson versus Syracuse on Jan. 14, 2019, and the sixth most points scored by a freshman in ACC history.
• McCain nailed 8-of-11 triples against the Seminoles to break Duke’s freshman record for 3-pointers made.
• In a top-10 rivalry matchup at North Carolina (Feb. 3), McCain recorded a double-double with team highs of 23 points and 11 caroms.
• McCain made eight 3-pointers in the second round NCAA Tournament win over James Madison, setting a new Duke record for made 3-pointers in the NCAA Tournament, bettering the standard of seven triples by Quinn Cook against Mercer on March 21, 2014.
• McCain became just the second Duke freshman to score 30 or more points in an NCAA Tournament game. Zion Williamson holds the program’s NCAA Tournament freshman scoring record with 32 points against UCF on March 22, 2019.
• McCain did not commit a turnover, becoming the first freshman since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985 to score at least 30 points with no turnovers.
• McCain has made two 3-pointers or more in 23 games this season. The Blue Devils are 19-4 in those contests.
• The 6-3 guard has secured double-digit rebounds six times this season, including a career-high of 11 boards twice.
• McCain was named ACC Rookie of the Week twice in 2024 (Jan. 29, Feb. 19) and was voted to the ACC All-Rookie Team, All-ACC Honorable Mention and the Kyle Macy National Freshmen All-America Team as a finalist for the Kyle Macy National Freshman of the Year Award.

Mitchell Makes His Mark

• Since the calendar turned to 2024, sophomore forward Mark Mitchell is shooting 58.1% from the field and 50.0% from 3-point range with three double-doubles.
• On Jan. 6 at Notre Dame, Mitchell amassed 23 points and 14 rebounds – both career highs.
• When grabbing six rebounds or more this season, Mitchell averages 14.9 points per game, including all five of his 20-plus-point performances.
• During his two seasons as a Blue Devil, Duke is 33-4 when Mitchell reaches double figures in the scoring column.

Blue Devils Top ACC in Shooting, Sharing, Scoring Margin

• Duke has outscored its opponents by an average of 13.0 points per contest, which tops the ACC and ranks 11th in the country.
• The Blue Devils have made 38.0% of 3-pointers as the top-shooting ACC team from long distance, ranking 13th nationally.
• Duke has converted on 48.0% overall to lead the ACC in field goal percentage and rank 24th in the nation.
• The Blue Devils also are the best in the league at sharing the rock, averaging an ACC-high 15.4 assists per outing, and ranking 17th in the nation in assist/turnover ratio (1.59).

Roach and Filipowski Reach 1K

• Senior guard Jeremy Roach became the 68th Blue Devil all-time to eclipse 1,000 career points in his Duke career, scoring 17 points against Arizona on Nov. 10.
• Sophomore center Kyle Filipowski also accomplished the feat this season, scoring 17 points at Wake Forest on Feb. 24 — the sophomore is just the 12th Blue Devil all-time and seventh in the past 50 years to score 1,000 points in their first two seasons.
• The Blue Devils are tied for second in NCAA Division I for most 1,000-point scorers in program history, tied with Louisville and ahead of Notre Dame and Villanova.
• Roach reached other career milestones — his 100th game in a Duke jersey against La Salle on Nov. 21, 2023, and his 100th career start versus Louisville on Feb. 28.

75th Anniversary of Associated Press Top 25 – Duke Dominates Past Three Decades

• To celebrate the 75th anniversary of its Top 25, the Associated Press compiled its weekly polls to determine the best programs of each decade. Duke was crowned the top program for the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s.
• In the 1990s, Duke won back-to-back national championships in 1991 and 1992, and started a run of 24 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 1996.
• In the 2000s, the Blue Devils won two more national titles in 2001 and 2010, and went on to spend nearly 60% of the time inside the top five of the AP Top 25 — including 40 weeks at No. 1.
• In the 2010s, Duke captured its fifth national championship in 2015, and tallied 33 weeks at No. 1 and 86% of the AP polls (167 of 194) inside the top 10 from 2010-20.

Duke’s Tenth Win Over No. 1 Seed Tops NCAA Tournament All-Time List

• Duke’s 54-51 triumph over Houston on Friday was the Blue Devils’ 10th all-time win over a No. 1 seed, which is the most in NCAA Tournament history.
• Following Duke at the top of the list with 10 victories over No. 1 seeds is North Carolina (9), Kansas (8), Michigan State (7) and Arizona (7).
• Prior to Friday, the Blue Devils last win over a No. 1 seed was against Wisconsin, 68-63, in the national championship game on April 6, 2015, in Indianapolis.

All-Access with Coach Jon Scheyer

• The 17th episode of Duke All-Access with head coach Jon Scheyer is available on the Duke Athletics YouTube channel. The show also airs weekly on Friday’s at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. (Bally Sports South), Saturday’s on MASN (8:30 a.m.), Bally Sports South (9:30 a.m.), ABC11.com (10 a.m.) and Sunday’s on WTVD ABC-11 (noon).
• Produced by Blue Devil Sports Properties from LEARFIELD, Duke All-Access with Coach Scheyer is in its second season as an 18-episode series that provides a look at the Duke men’s basketball program through interviews, game highlights, breakdowns, analysis and features.
• In the penultimate episode of the season, Coach Scheyer details the excitement going into the NCAA Tournament.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men’s basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching “DukeMBB”.

Duke Centennial
In 2024, Duke celebrates its Centennial, marking one hundred years since Trinity College became Duke University. Duke will use this historic milestone to deepen the understanding of its history, inspire pride and strengthen bonds and partnerships, and prepare for a second century of continued excellence and impactful leadership. To learn more, please visit 100.duke.edu

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COURTESY DUKE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS

Men’s Basketball History vs Duke University from January 9, 1954 – March 14, 2024

DALLAS – The NC State men’s basketball team is headed to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986 after defeating second-seed Marquette, 67-58, Friday night at American Airlines Center in the Sweet 16.

The Pack’s defense shined on Friday night as NC State held Marquette to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, including just 4-of-31 (12.9 percent) from three-point range. It’s the fifth consecutive game the Pack has held

The Golden Eagles field goal percentage was the lowest for an NC State opponent this season.

(courtesy NC State Athletic Communications)