Blue Devils Host Western Carolina for Home-Opener Saturday

Saturday, November 8

Durham, N.C.

1:30 p.m.

Duke University

Western Carolina

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Photo by: Duke Athletics

Blue Devils Host Western Carolina for Home-Opener Saturday

11/7/2025 11:50:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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The Opening Tip

The 2025-26 Duke squad makes its regular-season debut at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 8, hosting the Catamounts of Western Carolina. The broadcast on The CW begins at 1:30 p.m.
Among the preseason rankings, the Blue Devils are No. 6 in the Associated Press poll, No. 5 in the coaches poll and No. 10 according to ESPN.
Duke leads the series with Western Carolina, 3-0, since the teams first met on Dec. 30, 1993.
Jon Scheyer picked up his 90th head coaching victory with Tuesday's win over Texas.
Duke owns a record of 77-9 (.895) in home-opening contests since opening the doors to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 6, 1940, a 36-27 win over Princeton.
The Blue Devils have won 43 consecutive home-openers, last falling to Vanderbilt, 76-75, in double overtime on Nov. 28, 1981.
Duke has posted an all-time record of 978-174 (.849) at Cameron Indoor Stadium, including a 48-3 (.941) record under Scheyer with unblemished home records in 2022-23 (16-0) and 2024-25 (17-0).
Duke is coming off its 18th Final Four appearance, 23rd ACC Tournament title and 21st ACC regular-season championship.
The Blue Devils finished 35-4 overall last season - the 17th 30-win season in program history.
Duke returns six players from last year, while also welcoming the nation's top-ranked recruiting class, headlined by Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year, Cameron Boozer.
Boozer averaged 28.5 points and 17.5 rebounds in Duke's two exhibition games with 33 points and 12 boards versus UCF, and 24 points and 23 caroms at Tennessee.
Isaiah Evans, a Preseason All-ACC Second Team selection who led last season's team in 3-point field goal percentage (41.6%), scored a career-high 23 points in Duke's 75-60 win over Texas on Nov. 4.

The Western Carolina Catamounts

Duke leads the series with Western Carolina, 3-0, since the teams first met on Dec. 30, 1993.
In the last meeting on Dec. 30, 1996, Greg Newton posted a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double and current Duke associate head coach Chris Carrawell added seven points, six boards and three steals in the Blue Devils' 104-54 win.
Head coach Tim Craft owns a 196-189 in 13 seasons as a college head coach, including an 0-2 record against Duke as a head coach at Gardner-Webb (Dec. 16, 2013 & Nov. 16, 2021).
The Catamounts top returning scorers are 6-4 guard Cord Stansberry, who averaged 11.2 points and 3.8 rebounds and shot 91.3% from the free-throw line as a starter in all 30 games last season, and 6-8 forward Marcus Kell, a Preseason All-SoCon selection who tallied 11.7 points and 5.5 boards in 30 games with 16 starts in 2024-25.
The Catamounts have eight returners, including four who were regular starters in 2024-25, along with eight newcomers (four transfers, four freshmen).
Western Carolina opened the season with a 94-63 loss at Cincinnati on Monday, Nov. 3.

Last Time Out

No. 6 Duke defeated Texas, 75-60, in the Dick Vitale Invitational at Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Freshman Cameron Boozer posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Isaiah Evans recorded a career-high 23 points, highlighted by four first-half three-pointers.
Boozer, who distributed a team-high three assists, finished the first half with zero points and three rebounds before exploding in the second half for all 15 points and nine boards.
Evans has now made three or more triples 12 times in his Duke career. The Blue Devils are 12-0 in those contests.
Patrick Ngongba II earned his second double-digit point performance of his career, finishing with 10. He had a career-high 12 versus North Carolina on March 14.
In his first college game, Dame Sarr collected eight points, led the team with three steals, and was second on the squad with six boards.
All nine Blue Devils that played chalked up at least one assist, as Duke distributed 15 dimes on 22 field goals.
Duke has now won its last 26 season openers. Since 1950, the Blue Devils are 69-7 (.908) in the first game of the season.
The Blue Devils handed Texas just its third loss in its last 24 season openers.
With the victory, Duke is now a combined 104-35 (.748) all-time in 13 current NBA venues, including 12 consecutive victories and a 14-1 record when playing at Spectrum Center.
Duke held Texas to 60 total points, including just 27 after the half, as the Longhorns made just nine field goals and six free throws after intermission.
The Blue Devils opened the second half on a 10-0 run over the first 4:52 of action to go from trailing 33-32 at the break to up 42-33.
The victory marked head coach Jon Scheyer's 90th with the Blue Devils.

Success in Home-Openers

Duke owns a record of 77-9 (.895) in home-opening contests since opening the doors to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 6, 1940, a 36-27 win over Princeton.
The Blue Devils have won 43 consecutive home-openers, last falling to Vanderbilt, 76-75, in double overtime on Nov. 28, 1981.

On This Date - Nov. 8

Duke holds a 3-0 record in games played on Nov. 8.
The Blue Devils were ranked seventh or better in each contest.
All three games were played at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The average margin of victory in the three wins is 36.7 points.
Duke's first outing on Nov. 8 was against Davidson in 2013, a 111-77 victory.
The Blue Devils' prior contest on this date was last season, a 100-58 triumph versus Army West Point.

The 2025-26 Duke Blue Devils

Entering the 2025-26 campaign under fourth-year head coach Jon Scheyer, Duke returns six players from a squad that finished 35-4 overall last season, capturing the program's 23rd ACC Tournament title, 21st ACC regular-season crown and advancing to its 18th Final Four.
The Blue Devils also welcome the nation's No. 1-ranked recruiting class - the seventh top-ranked recruiting class for Duke since Scheyer joined the coaching staff.

Strength of Schedule

Duke's 2025-26 non-conference lineup features eight opponents that reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago: Texas (Nov. 4; Charlotte, N.C.), Kansas (Nov. 18; New York, N.Y.), Arkansas (Nov. 27; Chicago), Florida (Dec. 2; Durham), Michigan State (Dec. 6; East Lansing, Mich.), Lipscomb (Dec. 16; Durham), Texas Tech (Dec. 20; New York, N.Y.) and Michigan (Feb. 21; Washington, D.C.). Of those teams, five advanced to the Sweet 16, with three reaching the Elite Eight.
The Blue Devils will play 10 games against teams ranked in ESPN's preseason top 25 - No. 2 Florida, No. 6 Louisville (twice), No. 8 Michigan, No. 11 Texas Tech, No. 12 Arkansas, No. 22 Kansas, No. 24 NC State and No. 25 North Carolina (twice).

AP Poll Streak Extends

With the release of the Associated Press preseason poll on Oct. 13, Duke was ranked No. 6 -- extending a notable streak.
The Blue Devils have now been ranked in the top 10 at least once in 30 consecutive seasons -- the longest active streak nationally. The next closest program is Kansas, which has held a top-10 ranking at some point in each of the last 20 seasons.
The No. 6 ranking also marked the 18th consecutive season that the Blue Devils made their debut in the top 10.

Duke's Three-Point Streak

Duke has connected on at least one 3-pointer in 1,265 straight games, the longest streak nationally.
It has been more than 35 years since Duke was held without a three-point field goal -- Dec. 30, 1989, versus Hawai'i.

The Blue Devils Have Won Nearly 85% of Games at Cameron Indoor Stadium

Duke has posted an all-time record of 978-174 (.849) at Cameron Indoor Stadium, including a 48-3 (.941) record under head coach Jon Scheyer with unblemished home records in 2022-23 (16-0) and 2024-25 (17-0).
Duke has won more games at its current home venue than any team in college basketball.
Now in its 87th season as the home of the Blue Devils, Duke has averaged 11.1 wins since the venue opened Jan. 6, 1940 -- a 36-27 win over Princeton.

Sellout Streak Still Staying Strong

Duke has sold out 541 consecutive games at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The last time Duke did not have a sellout at home was on Nov. 16, 1990, against Boston College.
The sellout figure is the longest current streak (by time) in either men's college basketball or the NBA.
Duke's record at Cameron during the sellout streak is 492-49 (.909).

All-Access with Coach Jon Scheyer

The weekly television show, "Duke All-Access with Jon Scheyer," is back for its fourth season in 2025-26.
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 12 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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