Blue Devils, Hokies Set for Top 25 Showdown in Blacksburg

Tuesday, January 12

Blacksburg, Va.

7 P.M.

Duke University

Virginia Tech

Duke Men’s Basketball takes on the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons in the first half at the Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 9, 2020 at Durham, North Carolina.

Blue Devils, Hokies Set for Top 25 Showdown in Blacksburg

1/11/2021 3:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

WATCH LISTEN LIVE STATS DUKE GAME NOTES VIRGINIA TECH GAME NOTES GAME PROGRAM

THE OPENING TIP

A pair of Top 25 teams battling near the top of the ACC standings clash Tuesday night in Blacksburg when No. 19 Duke travels to face No. 20 Virginia Tech at Cassell Coliseum.
The game tips at 7 p.m. ET on ACC Network with Dave O'Brien and Cory Alexander on the call. On the radio, David Shumate and John Roth have the call on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield IMG College (96.5FM & 610AM in Durham).
The Blue Devils are looking to open ACC play 4-0 or better for the second consecutive year and 14th time in the Mike Krzyzewski era.
Duke has won three straight in the series versus Virginia Tech and leads the all-time series 50-10, including 13-7 in road contests.
Duke and Virginia Tech are clashing in a Top 25 matchup for the third time in the last five games in the series.
Duke, which has played seven games this season, has had five others canceled or postponed because of COVID-19 issues with the opponent. Duke's seven games are third fewest in the Power 5.
The Blue Devils have deployed a different starting lineup six times with only Matthew Hurt starting all seven games.
Fresh off a career-high 26 points in the Wake Forest win, Hurt leads the ACC in scoring at 19.6 points per game, is fourth in rebounding (8.1) and fourth in field goal percentage (.535). He is one of four players ranked in the conference's top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage and one of two ranked top-five in each.
Hurt's +9.83 points per game improvement from last year to this year leads all ACC players.
The watch list candidate for the Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy, Hurt has scored 17+ points in six consecutive games this season after having four such games last season. Two of his three career double-doubles have come in this season's first seven games.
Hurt and freshman DJ Steward were named ACC Player and Freshman of the Week, respectively, this week.
Senior Jordan Goldwire leads the ACC in both steals (2.71) and assist/turnover ratio (+2.55), while ranking sixth in assists (4.0).
Duke enters the contest ranked second in the ACC in steals (9.57) -- with double-digit steal totals in consecutive games -- and ranked third in assists (15.14). The Blue Devils are ninth in the NCAA in steals.

DUKE VS. VIRGINIA TECH
Tuesday's game is the 61st meeting between Duke and Virginia Tech, with the Blue Devils leading 50-10…Duke and Virginia Tech are meeting for just the third time with each team ranked in the Top 25 -- No. 20 Tech beat No. 3 Duke, 77-72, in Blacksburg on Feb. 26, 2019, while No. 1 Duke edged No. 16 Tech later that season in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C., 75-73…In Blacksburg, Duke is 13-7, including a 7-5 edge in Cassell Coliseum…Former Blue Devil Cassius Stanley poured in 21 points when the teams met last season in Durham…Then-freshman Matthew Hurt posted his first career double-double with 16 points and 10 boards last year in Durham…Earlier last season in Blacksburg, Duke snapped a three-game road losing streak in the series with a 77-63 victory behind 15 points from Tre Jones…Second-year head coach Mike Young spent the previous 17 years as head coach at Wofford, where he was 299-244 and took the Terriers to the NCAA Tournament five times…Young faced Duke just once in his time at Wofford -- an 84-55 Blue Devil win at Cameron Indoor on Dec. 31, 2014.

SCOUTING THE HOKIES
Virginia Tech bounced back from a two-point loss at Louisville to run away from Notre Dame, 77-63, Sunday night at home…The Hokies are 9-2 overall and 3-1 in ACC play…Junior transfer Keve Aluma, who followed Young from Wofford, leads the Hokies in both scoring (15.5) and rebounding (7.0) and shoots a team-best .523 from the field…Second-leading scorer sophomore Jalen Cone is hitting nearly 40 percent of his three-pointers (27-of-68) and averaging 12.9 points…Virginia Tech's +10.36 scoring margin this season is fifth-best in the ACC, and the Hokies are third in three-point accuracy (.353).

ON THIS DATE
Duke is 18-11 all-time when playing on January 12, including an 8-6 record in road games…Duke is 10-6 in ACC games on this date…Duke last played on this date in 2019, an 80-78 win at Florida State with Cam Reddish's three-pointer just before the buzzer proving to be the game winner.

SCHEDULE MANEUVERING
Due to schedule changes as a result of COVID-19 protocols, Duke has already had five games canceled or postponed a total of six times…The Blue Devils' season-opener versus Gardner-Webb was initially postponed due to COVID issues at GWU. The game was later rescheduled for Dec. 19 and eventually canceled by Duke…Duke's games versus Elon (Dec. 6) and Charleston Southern (Dec. 12) were each postponed due to virus issues with those programs and won't be rescheduled…The latest impacts came in the last two weeks when two of Duke's ACC contests were postponed -- Dec. 29 due to virus issues with Pitt and Jan. 2 due to virus issues at Florida State…Rescheduled dates have not yet been announced…Duke's seven games this season are third fewest in the Power 5, trailing South Carolina's five games and Wake Forest's six. Florida State and Penn State have also played just seven games.

DUKE VS. RANKED OPPONENTS
Duke is 235-154 (.604) vs. ranked teams under Coach K, with a 155-82 (.656) mark since the 1996-97 season…Duke has won five of its last seven, six of its last nine and eight of its last 12 on the road against ranked opponent…Duke is 1-1 versus a ranked Virginia Tech team and is 11-11 versus any team ranked No. 20 in the AP Top 25…Since 1996-97, Duke is 87-51 (.630) against ranked ACC teams and 68-31 (.687) vs. ranked non-league foes…In the Coach K era, Duke is 221-125 (.639) overall when each team is ranked in the Top 25 ... 144-87 (.625) overall when both teams are ranked in the top 15 ... 87-63 (.580) overall when both teams are ranked in the top 10 ... 33-18 (.647) when both teams are ranked in the top five...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).

DUKE AWAY FROM CAMERON
In the Coach K era, Duke is 261-146 (.641) in true road games and 275-77 (.781) in neutral site games, for a combined mark of 536-223 (.707) in all games outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium…In ACC regular season play, Duke is 190-121 (.611) away from home under Coach K. The Blue Devils are 134-68 (.667) in ACC road games since the 1996-97 season…In ACC Tournament play, Duke's .696 winning percentage and 103 wins each lead the conference.
Coach K's 190 ACC road wins are a conference record…Coach K has also won 16 road games against AP top five teams, the most in the history of the AP poll.

SO GOOD IT HURTS
Matthew Hurt added 25 pounds to his frame in the offseason, and the sophomore version of Hurt is leading the ACC in scoring (49th nationally) at 19.57 points per game…This week's ACC Player of the Week, Hurt's +9.83 points per game improvement from last year (9.74) to this year (19.57) leads all ACC returning players…The Rochester, Minn., native is also fourth in the ACC in rebounding (8.1) and fourth in field goal percentage (.535), making him one of four players ranked in the conference's top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage and one of two ranked top-five in each. ..The Blue Devils have deployed a different starting lineup in six of seven games with only Hurt starting all seven games…He is fresh off a career high 26 points in the Wake Forest win and has scored 17+ points in six consecutive games this season after having four such games last season…Two of his three career double-doubles have come in this season's first seven games, including 21 and 13 vs. Michigan State and 17 and 11 vs. Boston College.

HIGHEST SCORING IMPROVEMENT | ACC PLAYERS, 2019-20 TO 2020-21
Matthew Hurt (Duke) -- 9.74 -- 19.57 -- +9.83
Nate Laszewski (Notre Dame) -- 7.44 -- 17.22 -- +9.78
Isaiah Wong (Miami) -- 7.74 -- 17.50 -- +9.76
through games on Jan. 10, 2021

ACC WEEKLY HONORS
Duke swept the ACC weekly awards this week with sophomore Matthew Hurt earning the Player of the Week and DJ Steward the Freshman of the Week…It is the second honor for Steward, and first Player of the Week award for Hurt, who was the Freshman of the Week once last year…Duke has already had two named ACC Freshman of the Week this season with Jalen Johnson earning the honor on Nov. 30 and DJ Steward on Dec. 21 and Jan. 11…It is the first sweep for a school since Duke's Vernon Carey Jr., was both the Player of Freshman of the Week on Feb. 3, 2020…Duke now leads the ACC in all-time selections for both weekly honors -- 143 Player of the Week awards and 138 Freshman…The Blue Devils have had a stranglehold on the Freshman of the Week award over the last seven-plus season as Johnson and Steward become the 17th and 18th different Duke freshmen to win it in that span…Duke has had an ACC Rookie of the Week 50 percent of the time over the last seven-plus seasons (63 times in 125 weeks).

AP POLL STREAKS EXTEND
With the release of the Associated Press preseason poll on Nov. 9, Duke was ranked No. 9 -- extending some notable streaks…The Blue Devils have now been ranked in the top 10 at least once in 25 consecutive seasons -- the longest active streak nationally by a decade (Kansas, 15)…This marks the 13th consecutive season that the Blue Devils have debuted in the top 10…With Duke at No. 19 in the Jan. 11 poll, the Blue Devils have now been ranked in 91 consecutive polls dating back to 2016, the nation's second-longest active streak.

ON THE DEFENSIVE
This season, Duke ranks second in the ACC and ninth nationally in steals per game (9.6)…The Blue Devils have 24 thefts over the last two games, including a season-high 14 in the Boston College win -- its most in a game since 14 last season vs. Central Arkansas (11/12/19) and its most in the regular season versus an ACC opponent since 14 vs. NC State (1/18/14). ..Senior Jordan Goldwire leads the ACC in steals per game (2.71) and is 10th nationally…His 19 steals through seven games are fourth-most by any Duke player through a season's first seven contents…Duke was second in the NCAA and led the ACC in blocked shots per game (6.1) last season, after leading the NCAA in blocked shots per game in the 2018-19 season (6.8)…Duke is tied for third in the ACC in blocked shots (4.6) this season…Since the start of the 2018-19 season, no team in the nation has blocked more shots than Duke's 476…Duke and Florida State were the only power conference teams to finish last season ranked in the top 25 for both blocked shots and steals per game.

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