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, January 7
Durham, N.C.
7 p.m.
Duke University
vs
Pitt
Photo by: Duke Athletics
Duke, Pitt Battle as ACC Unbeaten Squads
1/6/2025 6:12:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Opening Tip
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- No. 4 Duke returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium to battle Pittsburgh on Tuesday, Jan. 7, with tipoff at 7 p.m., on ESPN.
- Dave O'Brien and Cory Alexander will call the action on ESPN. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.
- The Duke and Pitt men's basketball programs have partnered to host the "Hoops4ALS" game, continuing to raise awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) - also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.
- Duke and Pitt have identical 12-2 overall records and are each undefeated in ACC play.
- Duke has won eight straight games, tied for the fourth-longest active winning streak in the nation.
- Tuesday will be the 27th meeting between Duke and Pitt, with the Blue Devils holding a 17-9 advantage in the series.
- The Blue Devils rank fifth in the country in field goal percentage defense (.361), sixth in scoring defense (59.2), eighth in scoring margin (+21.1), and 18th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.67) - all top marks in the ACC.
- Duke is one of only two teams in the country ranked in the top-10 in both offensive (9th) and defensive efficiency (3rd), according to KenPom. Iowa State is the other team.
- Duke has not allowed more than 65 points to an unranked opponent this season, while the Panthers are the third-highest scoring team in the ACC at 84.1 points per contest.
- Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, tops Duke in points (244), rebounds (117), assists (51), steals (23) and blocked shots (18).
- Tyrese Proctor is second in the ACC in 3-point shooting percentage (.417), and has made three or more triples in six games this season.
- The 2022-23 ACC Coach of the Year Jeff Capel is in his seventh year as head coach at Pitt. Capel is a former Duke player and assistant coach, spending seven seasons on Mike Krzyzewski's staff (2011-18).
- A four-year starter for the Blue Devils from 1993-97, Capel was a two-time team captain. He was part of 83 wins and helped the program to 1994 NCAA title game.
- No. 4 Duke trailed for only 29 seconds at SMU on Saturday, Jan. 4, as the Blue Devils (12-2, 4-0 ACC) cruised to an 89-62 victory over the Mustangs (11-3, 2-1 ACC).
- Freshman Cooper Flagg poured in 24 points and posted his fifth double-double of the season with a team-high 11 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils.
- The 20-point double-double is Flagg's fourth such game of his freshman campaign.
- Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor also scored in double-figures, as each contributed 14 points.
- Sion James dished a season-high eight assists, one shy of his career high.
- As a team, Duke tallied 22 assists on their 33 made field goals. The Blue Devils are averaging 20.3 assists per game across their last three games, and Duke's 3.1 assist-turnover ratio on Saturday afternoon set a new benchmark for the season
- Duke's defense continued its streak of holding unranked opponents to less than 65 points. SMU had scored 74 points or more in 12 of its first 13 games.
- The 27-point margin marked SMU's largest loss since an 85-53 defeat at UCF on Jan. 8, 2023.
- The Blue Devils ended the game with 11 made three-pointers, their third-straight game with double-digit makes from deep.
- The Blue Devils won the rebounding battle, 43-42, and have out-rebounded 11 of their first 14 opponents this season.
- Duke collected 42 points in the paint compared to 24 by the Mustangs. The Blue Devils have out-scored the opposition in the paint in 12 of their 14 games and have posted a double-digit margin in that category eight times this season.
- The Blue Devils held the Mustangs to just five fast-break points, who entered the game averaging 16 fast-break points per game, which ranked 20th nationally. Duke opponents have logged single-digit fast-break points in all but two games this season.
- Head coach Jon Scheyer did not travel to Dallas, Texas, due to an illness, missing his first game as head coach of the Blue Devils. Associate head coach Chris Carrawell served as acting head coach for the first time in his seventh season on Duke's coaching staff.
- Duke is once again one of the top defenses in the country.
- KenPom ranks the Blue Devils third in the nation with an adjusted defense efficiency rating of 87.4.
- This season, Duke ranks fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.361), sixth in scoring defense (59.2) and 33rd in three-point field goal percentage defense (.289) - all top marks in the ACC.
- 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 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 five double-doubles this season, including four 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.
- Flagg is the only 17-year-old in NCAA history to register multiple 20-point double-doubles, according to Real Sports.
- 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 is just the sixth player in Duke history to score at least 200 points and grab at least 100 rebounds within Duke's first 13 games of the respective season, joining Jabari Parker (278 points/104 rebounds in 2013-14), Marvin Bagley III (274/142 in 2017-18), Zion Williamson (263/123 in 2018-19), Jahill Okafor (253/113 in 2014-15) and Vernon Carey Jr. (233/117 in 2019-20).
- Flagg has been voted as the ACC Rookie of the Week five times (Nov. 18, Nov. 25, Dec. 9, Dec. 23, Jan. 6) and the ACC Player of the Week twice (Nov. 25, Jan. 6).
- Flagg has swept the ACC weekly awards twice this season. He is the fifth player in the history of the league to sweep the conference's weekly awards multiple times in a season, joining four former Blue Devils - Vernon Carey Jr. (2019-20), Zion Williamson (2018-19), Marvin Bagley III (2017-18) and Jabari Parker (2013-14).
- Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, currently leads Duke in points (244), rebounds (117), assists (51), steals (23) and blocked shots (18).
- Duke has a 24-7 record on Jan. 7, including eight straight victories on this date since 1998.
- Duke's last setback on Jan. 7 was in 1997, an 86-82 overtime loss to No. 5 Clemson in South Carolina.
- The Blue Devils own a 14-2 record at home on Jan. 7, including five consecutive wins.
- Duke has played two overtime games on this date, an 86-82 loss at Clemson in 1997 and a 78-72 home win over Wake Forest.
- 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.
- 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 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.
- 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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#GoDuke
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Players Mentioned
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