Duke Begins Two-Game Road Swing at Syracuse

Wednesday, February 5

Syracuse, N.Y.

7 p.m.

Duke University

Syracuse

Maliq Brown vs North Carolina (2/1/25) - Duke Men's Basketball

Photo by: Duke Athletics

Duke Begins Two-Game Road Swing at Syracuse

2/4/2025 3:28:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Duke Game Notes (PDF)

The Opening Tip

No. 2 Duke visits the northeast to face Syracuse on Wednesday, Feb. 5, at 7 p.m., on ESPN2. The Blue Devils (19-2, 11-0 ACC) and Orange (10-12, 4-7 ACC) tip off at 7 p.m., with the game broadcast live on ESPN2.
Kevin Brown and Jay Williams will call the action on ESPN2. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.
Duke leads the series with Syracuse, 16-6, including nine straight victories overall, four consecutive on the road, and 11 of the last 12.
Duke has won 15 straight games, the longest active winning streak in the nation.
Duke's 15-game win streak is the longest by the Blue Devils since the 2012-13 season.
Duke's 11-0 start in ACC play is the best by Duke since the 2005-06 season, when the Blue Devils began the ACC slate with 14 consecutive wins.
The Blue Devils lead the country in scoring margin (+20.3) and rank fifth in scoring defense (60.0), sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.377), 11th in rebound margin (+9.0), 10th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.66), 22nd in three-pointers per game (10.0) and 27th in assists per game (17.0) - all top marks in the ACC.
Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-five in both offensive (5th) and defensive efficiency (3rd), according to KenPom.
Duke is the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (80.3) and hold its opponents 60 points or fewer per game (60.0).
Maliq Brown, who topped the ACC with 71 steals last season as a member of the Syracuse Orange, tops the Blue Devils with an astonishing 94 deflections (eight vs. UNC), an average of 5.9 per game, and is second on the squad with 24 steals.
Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, tops Duke in points (419), rebounds (167), assists (89), steals (32) and blocked shots (26).
Flagg ranks among the ACC's top-10 in all five major statistical categories - scoring (2nd), rebounding (7th), assists (7th), blocks (9th) and steals (10th).
In the last eight games, Sion James has distributed 34 assists with just nine turnovers, an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.8.
Kon Knueppel shot-2-of-4 from behind the arc against the Tar Heels. Duke is now 16-0 when the freshman connects on two or more three-pointers.

Last Time Out

No. 2 Duke scored 16 unanswered in the opening minutes and never looked back, defeating rival North Carolina 87-70 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday, Feb. 1.
The Blue Devils tallied double-digit scoring runs of 16 and 11 in the first half, taking a lead as large as 27 points, 40-13, in the opening 20 minutes. The Tar Heels posted an 18-of-28 (.643) shooting performance following the halftime break, but never got closer than 16, 79-63, in the second half.
Four Blue Devils finished in double-figures, led by 20-point games from the freshman duo of Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg, who scored 22 and 21, respectively. Tyrese Proctor added 17, while Sion James rounded out the double-digit scoring by matching his season high of 13.
Flagg added game highs for rebounds (8), assists (7) and steals (3), while also blocking two shots, and Knueppel ended the contest with five boards and five assists to go with his game-high 22 points.
On the defensive end, the Blue Devils swiped 10 steals, their most in a game since tallying 10 against George Mason on Dec. 17, en route to 14 total takeaways.
With the win, Duke extended its winning streak to 15 games, the longest active streak in the nation. The last time the Blue Devils had a win streak of at least 15 games was at the start of the 2012-13 campaign, when Duke won its first 15 games of the season.
Saturday marked the 263rd all-time meeting between Duke and North Carolina, with Duke leading 57-52 when in Durham, including a 48-40 ledger in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The 17-point margin of victory is the largest Duke win in the rivalry at Cameron Indoor Stadium since head coach Jon Scheyer's senior night, an 82-50 victory for Duke on March 6, 2010.
With the victory, Duke improved to 11-0 in ACC play. The last time a Duke team won its first 11 conference games was during the 2005-06 season, when the Blue Devils began the ACC slate with 14 consecutive wins.
The Blue Devils dished 20 assists on 28 field goals on Saturday. Duke has now tallied 20 or more assists five times this season.
Scheyer improved to 73-20 (.785) at the helm of the program, including a 44-3 (.936) record in Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Duke Among Nation's Top Defenses

Duke is once again one of the top defenses in the country.
KenPom ranks the Blue Devils as the third-best defense in the nation with an adjusted defense efficiency rating of 88.3 (as of Feb. 3).
This season, Duke ranks sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.377) and fifth in scoring defense (60.0) - both top marks in the ACC.
Based on Evan-Miya's Defensive Bayesian Performance Rating, Duke has six of the top 14 defenders in the ACC: Cooper Flagg (1st), Maliq Brown (3rd), Kon Knueppel (4th), Sion James (7th), Khaman Maluach (13th) and Tyrese Proctor (14th).
Proctor has limited opposing players to just 20% shooting from the field this season, while Brown is second on the Blue Devils by holding opponents to 26% shooting, based on team data.
Brown leads Duke with an astonishing 94 deflections, an average of 5.9 per game, including eight against North Carolina, while Flagg is second on the team with 61 deflections.
Last season, the 2023-24 Blue Devils finished the season 16th in the nation in defense efficiency (95.2), and 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 finished the season 16th in the nation in defense efficiency (93.9), and ranked 24th in three-point percentage defense (.305), 27th in field goal percentage defense (.406) and 30th in scoring defense (63.6).

Flagg Collecting Accolades and Making History

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 six 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 became 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 broke the Duke and ACC freshman single-game scoring records with 42 points versus Notre Dame (Jan. 11), becoming the youngest player in NCAA history to have a 40-point game, according to Real Sports.
On Jan. 13, Flagg became the first player in ACC history to sweep the conference weekly awards (player and rookie of the week) three times. 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), who each did so twice.
The freshman achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average during the fall 2024 semester.
Flagg has been voted as the ACC Rookie of the Week nine times (Nov. 18, Nov. 25, Dec. 9, Dec. 23, Jan. 6, Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan. 27, Feb. 3) and the ACC Player of the Week four times (Nov. 25, Jan. 6, Jan. 13, Feb. 3).
Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, currently leads Duke in points (419), rebounds (167), assists (89), steals (32) and blocked shots (26).
Flagg ranks among the ACC's top-10 in all five major statistical categories - scoring (3rd), rebounding (7th), assists (7th), blocks (9th) and steals (10th).
Flagg currently leads the KenPom Player of the Year Standings with a 2.733 rating, ahead of Auburn's Johni Broome (2.305) and Kansas's Hunter Dickinson (1.599).

On This Date

Duke has a record of 23-9 on Feb. 5.
The Blue Devils have won seven out of the last eight on this date.
When playing on the road on Feb. 5, Duke is 10-7.
The Blue Devils have won three of their last four games played on this date, most recently defeating North Carolina, 87-67, in Chapel Hill in 2022.
Wednesday's matchup marks the first meeting between Duke and Syracuse played on Feb. 5.

All-Access with Coach Jon Scheyer Debuts

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 5:30 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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