Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus Countdown to Craziness on October 3, 2025 at 7 p.m.
/
7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs Countdown to Craziness
.png&width=24&height=24&type=webp)
Cooper Flagg turns 18 years old on Saturday, Dec. 21, as the Blue Devils face Georgia Tech.
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Duke Returns to ACC Action at Georgia Tech
12/20/2024 2:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Opening Tip
To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMBB".
 Â
#GoDuke
Â
- No. 5 Duke returns to conference play with a road trip to Atlanta to face Georgia Tech on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 12 p.m., on the ACC Network.
- Kevin Brown and Jim Boeheim will call the action on the ACC Network. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.
- Duke leads the series with Georgia Tech, 78-25, including 17 wins in the last 19 meetings.
- Last season, each team held home court, as the Yellow Jackets won in Atlanta, 72-68, and the Blue Devils won in Durham, 84-79.
- On Jan. 28, 2023, Duke won in Atlanta, 86-43. The 43-point victory was the second-largest ACC road win in school history and just the third 40-point ACC road win in school history.
- Saturday will be Jon Scheyer's 400th game as a Duke coach, joining the staff as a special assistant for the 2013-14 season. The Blue Devils are 308-91 (.772) in that time.
- The Blue Devils rank third in the country in field goal percentage defense (.355), eighth in scoring defense (58.7), and 15th in scoring margin (+19.9).
- KenPom ranks the Blue Devils second nationally in adjusted defense efficiency (88.5).
- Cooper Flagg, who turns 18 years old on Saturday, tops Duke in points (183), rebounds (99), assists (40) and blocks (15).
- Flagg became the first 17-year-old in NCAA history to record multiple 20-point double-doubles, according to Real Sports.
- Sion James's older brother, Jehloni, played basketball at Georgia Tech (2019-22), and is now playing at Columbus State, averaging 15.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
- Georgia Tech sophomore 6-3 guard Naithan George tops the ACC and ranks 19th nationally with 6.0 assists per game, while scoring 11.0 points per contest.
- The Yellow Jackets have four players averaging double-digit scoring, led by Lance Terry's 15.5 points per game.
- No. 5 Duke prevailed in a matchup between two top-five defenses, as the Blue Devils defeated George Mason, 68-47, on Tuesday, Dec. 17, inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
- The two teams entered the contest boasting shooting-percentage defenses inside the top five nationally and Duke used a 43-point second half to earn the victory over the Patriots.
- Freshman Cooper Flagg led all scorers, pouring in 24 points, and finished one rebound shy of a double-double, while also logging team highs in assists (four) and steals (three).
- Flagg scored 17 points in the second half, the most second-half points by any Blue Devils so far this season.
- Flagg went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line and has connected on 13 consecutive from the charity stripe, dating back to the Louisville game on Dec. 8.
- The eight makes from the free throw line matched the most made by a Duke player this season, joining his 8-for-12 showing against Auburn on Dec. 4.
- Sion James finished with a game-high +31 in 31 minutes.
- Tyrese Proctor scored eight total points and shot 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. The junior has made at least two three-pointers in all but two of Duke's games this season.
- Isaiah Evans shot 3-of-6 from beyond the arc for his third game in the last four contests with at least three makes from deep, and is shooting 13-of-22 (.591) on three-pointers in that span.
- Khaman Maluach led the team with two blocked shots, was second in rebounding with eight boards, and contributed six points and a steal.
- George Mason entered the game ranked third in the nation for field goal percentage defense (.354) and 15th in three-point field goal percentage defense (.273), while Duke ranked fifth nationally for field goal percentage defense (.362).
- The Blue Devils outpaced the Patriots defensive benchmarks in overall field goal percentage (.375) and three-point percentage (.333), while holding George Mason to 20-of-68 (.294) from the field.
- George Mason shot 2-of-17 (.118) from beyond the arc, the lowest opponent three-point percentage during the past three seasons under Scheyer.
- The Blue Devils held George Mason to just 16 points in the first half, the second time that a Duke opponent scored less than 20 points in the opening frame, joining Wofford's 14-point effort in the opening 20 minutes of play on Nov. 16.
- The Patriots only scored 47 total points, marking the lowest output by George Mason since Feb. 20, 2022 (47 vs. Fordham).
- Duke is at the top of KenPom.com's list of tallest teams in the country with an average height of 79.6 inches, better than 6-7 per Blue Devil.
- The Blue Devils' starting lineup for the first five games features 6-5 guard Caleb Foster, 6-6 guard Tyrese Proctor, 6-7 guard/forward Kon Knueppel, 6-9 guard/forward Cooper Flagg and 7-2 center Khaman Maluach, for an average height of 6-8.
- Duke is once again one of the top defenses in the country.
- KenPom ranks the Blue Devils second nationally in adjusted defense efficiency (88.5).
- This season, Duke ranks third in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.355), eighth in scoring defense (58.7) and 21st in three-point field goal percentage defense (.281).
- Last season, the 2023-24 Blue Devils ranked 28th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 66.3 points per game.
- In 2022-23, Jon Scheyer's first season as head coach, Duke ranked 24th in three-point percentage defense (.305), 27th in field goal percentage defense (.406) and 30th in scoring defense (63.6).
- Duke has found a way of overcoming double-figure deficits this season.
- The Blue Devils trailed by 11 points (16:20-1st) versus Auburn (Dec. 4), battled to take a 12-point lead (18:23-2nd), and won by six points, 84-78.
- Duke trailed by 14 points (8:36-1st) at Louisville (Dec. 8), stormed back for a 13-point advantage (0:47-2nd), and won by 11 points, 76-65.
- The Auburn and Louisville victories were the first time the Blue Devils overcame double-digit deficits in consecutive wins since February 2020, when Duke defeated Boston College, 63-55, after trailing by 10 points (Feb. 4, 2020), and then beat North Carolina, 98-96 in overtime, after being down by 13 points (Feb. 8, 2020).
- The Blue Devils also trailed by 13 points (15:49-1st) versus Kansas (Nov. 26), rallied to take a two-point lead (5:53 2nd), but lost by three points, 75-72.
- Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, the No. 1-ranked prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, secured a spot on the 2024-25 Associated Press preseason All-America Team.
- The 6-9 guard/forward was also announced as the Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year and named to the Preseason All-ACC First Team, as chosen by a select media panel.
- Flagg collected 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in the season-opener against Maine to become the first freshman in Duke history to have at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in their debut.
- Flagg was the first Duke player in the last 40 years to amass 50+ points, 25+ rebounds and 10+ assists in his first three career games, per ESPN.
- Flagg was voted as the ACC Men's Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week on Nov. 25, becoming the first player to earn both honors in the same week since Feb. 3, 2020, when Duke's Vernon Carey, Jr., accomplished the same feat.
- Flagg has posted four double-doubles this season, including three with 20 points or more and two of those against ranked opponents, collecting 26 points and 11 rebounds versus No. 19 Kentucky and 22 points and 11 caroms against No. 2 Auburn.
- In Duke's four top-25 matchups, Flagg averaged 21.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
- After registering a pair of 20-point double-doubles without committing a turnover against No. 2 Auburn and at Louisville, Flagg was declared the Associated Press and Lute Olson National Player of the Week and the ACC Rookie of the Week (Dec. 9).
- Flagg currently leads Duke in points (183), rebounds (99), assists (40) and blocked shots (15), and is second in steals (18).
- During a six-game stretch (Nov. 12-Dec. 4) before conference action begins, Duke played four teams that were ranked in the Associated Press preseason top-25 poll (No. 1 Kansas, No. 10 Arizona, No. 11 Auburn and No. 23 Kentucky) and were at least a 4-seed in last season's NCAA Tournament.
- The Blue Devils posted a 2-2 record in those ranked contests with a road win at No. 17 Arizona and a home victory over No. 2 Auburn.
- Duke plays three true road games before Christmas for the first time since the 1990-91 season.
- The Blue Devils are currently 2-0 on the road with a trip to Georgia Tech on Dec. 21 remaining before the calendar turns to 2025.
- Duke has a 16-8 record on Dec. 21.
- The Blue Devils have won 13 of their last 14 games played on this date, including three straight victories.
- Duke has played just one true road game on Dec. 21 since 1964, an 89-44 triumph at Davidson in 1989.
- The Blue Devils have a 2-7 record in all true road games played on this date.
- Duke's lone conference game played on Dec. 21 occurred in 1988, a 94-88 home win over Wake Forest.
- The weekly television show, "Duke All-Access with Jon Scheyer," is back for its third season in 2024-25.
- The 30-minute show features Jon Scheyer and his Blue Devils team. Presented in magazine format and produced by John Roth, the show also includes informative player features and behind-the-scenes access to the Duke program.
- A production of Blue Devil Sports Properties from LEARFIELD, the show airs locally on ABC-11 WTVD on Sundays at noon ET and is live streamed on ABC11.com Saturdays at 10 a.m. ET. It also available regionally across on FanDuel Sports Network on Fridays at 3 p.m. ET; and on MASN Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. ET. It can also be viewed via the Duke Athletics YouTube Channel and archived on GoDuke.com.
To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMBB".
 Â
#GoDuke
Â
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's Basketball
G/F
/ Men's Basketball
C
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballJon Scheyer Press Conference: Summer 2025
Tuesday, July 08
Duke vs Houston: Press Conference
Sunday, April 06
Duke vs Alabama: East Region Champions Press Conference
Wednesday, April 02
Duke vs Arizona: Duke Press Conference
Friday, March 28
