Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball versus UCF on October 21, 2025 at 7 p.m.
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7 p.m.
Men's Basketball
vs UCF
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Tuesday, December 31
Durham, N.C.
4:30 p.m.
Duke University
vs
Virginia Tech
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Duke Hosts Virginia Tech in ACC Home Opener
12/30/2024 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
The Opening Tip
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- No. 4 Duke closes out the calendar year with its ACC home opener against Virginia Tech on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 4:30 p.m., on the ACC Network.
- Wes Durham and Dan Bonner will call the action on the ACC Network. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.
- The Blue Devils are 59-12 in ACC home openers. including 17 consecutive victories.
- Duke leads the series with Virginia Tech, 53-13, including a 23-1 (.958) record at home.
- The victory at Georgia Tech on Dec. 21 was Jon Scheyer's 400th game as a Duke coach, having joined the staff as a special assistant for the 2013-14 season. The Blue Devils are 309-91 (.773) in that time.
- The Blue Devils rank fifth in the country in field goal percentage defense (.355), seventh in scoring defense (58.5), 13th in scoring margin (+20.4), and 35th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.55) - all top marks in the ACC.
- KenPom ranks the Blue Devils as the best defense in the nation with an adjusted defense efficiency rating of 88.1.
- Kon Knueppel ranks 21st in the nation and third in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (+3.36) with 37 assists and 11 turnovers.
- Knueppel topped the Blue Devils with 18 points and five assists with no turnovers, while shooting 4-of-8 from 3-point range, to spark Duke in an 82-56 road win at Georgia Tech on Dec. 21.
- Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, tops Duke in points (196), rebounds (103), assists (42) and blocks (15).
- Flagg was voted as the ACC Rookie of the Week for the fourth time on Dec. 23.
- Flagg became the first 17-year-old in NCAA history to record multiple 20-point double-doubles, according to Real Sports.
- Tyrese Proctor boasts the second-highest 3-point shooting percentage in the ACC (41.7%).
- Duke has a 14-3 record on Dec. 31, with a 6-0 record in home games played on this date.
- Virginia Tech ranks seventh in the ACC in rebound margin (+4.3) and eighth in offensive rebounds per game (11.8).
- The Hokies are positioned fourth in the conference in bench points per contest with an average of 26.3.
- Tobi Lawal, a 6-8 junior forward, tops the Hokies in scoring (10.7 points per game) and rebounding (5.8 boards per game).
- Former Blue Devil Jaden Schutt is seventh in the ACC with 28 3-pointers and is Virginia Tech's third-leading scorer with 9.3 points per contest, while shooting 36.8% (28-of-76) from behind the arc.
- Virginia Tech freshman guard Ben Hammond was a teammate with Duke freshmen Patrick Ngongba II and Darren Harris at St. Paul VI Catholic High School, winning the conference and state championships during their senior season in 2023-24.
- Behind a dominant second half, Duke defeated Georgia Tech, 82-56, at McCamish Pavilion on Saturday, Dec. 21.
- The Blue Devils held the Yellow Jackets to just 20 second-half points and a season-low 56 total points en route to the 26-point victory.
- Kon Knueppel scored a game-high 18 points and was joined in double-figures by Khaman Maluach (15), Cooper Flagg (13) and Tyrese Proctor (10).
- Knueppel also finished with a game-high five assists and secured four rebounds, while Maluach led the rebounding efforts overall for the Blue Devils with eight caroms.
- The Blue Devils shot 31-of-55 (.564) from the field, the highest shooting percentage for Duke in a game so far this season.
- Twenty of Duke's made field goals were assisted, the second-most assists in a single game for the Blue Devils.
- Duke's defense remained stout, holding the Yellow Jackets to only 7-of-28 (.250) from the field in the second half, en route to outscoring Georgia Tech 41-20 following the break.
- The triumph over Georgia Tech was Duke's 1,000th win against current ACC members (1000-512).
- 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 as the best defense in the nation with an adjusted defense efficiency rating of 88.1.
- This season, Duke ranks fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.355), seventh in scoring defense (58.5) and 32nd in three-point field goal percentage defense (.286).
- 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 has been voted as the ACC Rookie of the Week four times (Nov. 18, Nov. 25, Dec. 9, Dec. 23).
- Flagg currently leads Duke in points (196), rebounds (103), assists (42) and blocked shots (15), and is second in steals (18).
- During a six-game stretch (Nov. 12-Dec. 4) before conference action began, Duke played four teams that were ranked in the Associated Press top-25 poll (No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Auburn, No. 17 Arizona, and No. 19 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 (Nov. 22) and a home victory over No. 2 Auburn (Dec. 4) in the ACC/SEC Challenge.
- Duke played three true road games before Christmas for the first time since the 1990-91 season, winning all three contests.
- Duke has a 14-3 record on Dec. 31.
- The Blue Devils have won 10 of their last 11 contests on the final day of the calendar year, including back-to-back victories (2019 and 2022).
- Duke last played on Dec. 31 in 2022, an 86-67 conference win over Florida State in Durham.
- The Blue Devils are 6-0 in home games played on this date.
- 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 is also available regionally across the 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".
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