Duke Faces Arizona in NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal

The Opening Tip

No. 1 Duke faces No. 21 Arizona in the regional semifinal of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday, March 27. The Blue Devils (33-3) and Wildcats (24-12) tip off at 9:39 p.m., on CBS.
Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce will call the action on CBS. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.
Duke owns the second-highest net rating (39.00) in the history of KenPom (since 1996-97 season). Only the 1998-99 Duke Blue Devils have achieved a higher net rating (43.01).
The Blue Devils have won 29 of their last 30 games since late November, including the nation's second-longest current win streak at 13 consecutive victories.
Duke leads the nation in scoring margin (+21.5) and ranks third in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.82), fourth in field goal percentage defense (.383), fifth in effective field goal percentage (.579), sixth in scoring defense (61.7), eighth in field goal percentage (.492), eighth in turnovers per game (9.3), 11th in rebound margin (+7.7), 12th in scoring offense (83.2), 16th in three-point percentage (.381), 18th in three-pointers per game (10.3), 19th in assists per game (16.9), 24th in three-point percentage defense (.305) and 30th in rebounds per game (38.5) - all top marks in the ACC.
Duke leads the ACC in scoring offense (83.2) and scoring defense (61.7), and could become the first team in ACC history to lead the conference in both categories.
Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-four in both offensive (1st) and defensive (4th) adjusted efficiency, according to KenPom.
Duke is the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (83.2) and hold its opponents to fewer than 62 points per game (61.7).
Jon Scheyer, who was announced as one of four finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year award, is the first coach in conference history to win two ACC Tournament championships in his first three seasons as a head coach.
Junior guard Tyrese Proctor made a career-high seven three-pointers versus Baylor and is shooting 19-of-30 (.633) from distance in the last three games.
Cooper Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, ranks among the ACC's top-10 in four of five major statistical categories - scoring (3rd), rebounding (9th), assists (8th) and blocked shots (8th), and is 11th in steals.
Kon Knueppel leads ACC and ranks seventh in the nation in free throw percentage (90.8% - 99-of-109).
Khaman Maluach has 69 dunks this season, compared to just 59 combined by Duke foes. His 69 slams are fifth-most by a Blue Devil in a season.
Sion James ranks second in the ACC with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.68 (110 assists/41 turnovers), and has distributed 60 assists with just 18 turnovers in last 19 games for a 3.3 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Opponent Notes

Thursday will be the 11th straight meeting between Duke and Arizona with both teams ranked in the top-25.
Duke is 1-1 against Arizona in the NCAA Tournament.
Prior to Duke's 69-55 road win over Arizona on Nov. 22, 2024, the Wildcats won three straight in the series, dating back to a 93-77 victory in the 2011 NCAA Tournament regional semifinal in Anaheim, California.
Duke defeated Arizona, 82-72, in the 2001 national championship game in Minneapolis.
The Wildcats rank 11th in the nation in rebounds per game (40.1) and 12th in rebounding margin (+7.5).
Arizona tops the Big 12 and is 17th in the country in scoring offense with 82.2 points per contest.
Caleb Love, a First Team All-Big 12 honoree, leads Arizona in scoring (16.8 ppg) and is second in assists (3.5 apg).
Love played 101 games in three seasons at North Carolina before transferring to Arizona for the 2023-24 campaign.
Tommy Lloyd is in his fourth season as head coach after serving as an assistant coach at Gonzaga for 22 seasons.

Duke in the NCAA Tournament

Head coach Jon Scheyer leads Duke into the tournament for the third straight season and has steered the Blue Devils to a top-five seed in each of his first three seasons at the helm of the program.
2025 marks the first one seed for the Blue Devils under Scheyer and is the 15th time in program history that Duke has been tapped as a one seed.
Duke is 124-41 (.752) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, marking the best winning percentage in tournament history by a team with a minimum of 20 games played.
Duke's 124 wins are third-most in the event's history.
The Blue Devils have now been selected to the East Region 20 times – last in 2023 – and hold a 61-17 (.782) record when playing out of the East.
Duke is 56-10 (.848) all-time as a No. 1 seed.
The winner of Thursday's contest advances to the East Regional final on Saturday, March 29, against either No. 7 Alabama or No. 17 BYU.

Last Time Out

Behind a career-high 25 points from Tyrese Proctor, No. 1-seed Duke defeated No. 9-seed Baylor, 89-66, on Sunday, March 23.
With the win, the Blue Devils (33-3) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season, and are making their 28th appearance in the Sweet 16 since 1985, when the field expanded to 64.
The 28 Sweet 16 appearances are the most by any program in the country in that time frame, ahead of North Carolina's 25.
Proctor drained a career-high seven three-pointers, going 7-of-8 (.875) from beyond the arc and finished the game 9-of-10 (.900) from the field overall.
Across Duke's last three games, the junior has shot 19-of-30 (.633) on three-pointers and is averaging 17.7 points per game in that span.
Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel also reached double-figures, scoring 18 and 12, respectively.
Flagg registered team highs in rebounds (9) and assists (6), while Khaman Maluach and Patrick Ngongba II shared the team lead for blocks, with two each.
Duke shot 13-of-20 (.650) from the field in the first half, its best first-half shooting percentage of the season, to build a 17-point lead (47-30) after 20 minutes of play.
The Blue Devils also eclipsed 60 percent from the field in the second half, shooting 16-of-25 (640) – marking Duke's first game this season having shot over 60 percent in both halves.
Duke finished the game 29-of-45 (.644) from the field, its best shooting percentage this season.
The 64.4-percent performance is the best single-game shooting percentage by a Duke team in the NCAA Tournament, surpassing a 63.2-percent game against Southern Illinois on March 18, 1993.
Duke finished the game with 1.51 points per possession on offense, the highest single-game output by a team in the NCAA Tournament since Villanova registered 1.52 points per possession against Oklahoma in the 2016 NCAA Tournament, per Jared Berson.
The 1.51 points per possession is the highest by any Baylor opponent this season, surpassing Gonzaga's 1.44 in the Bears' season opener.
Duke's 23-point win is the largest margin of victory in the series with Baylor, which the Blue Devils lead, 3-0.
Duke picked up its 33rd win of the season, improving to 33-3 overall for the campaign. Since the start of the 2000 season, Duke has now registered four campaigns with at least 33 wins (2001, 2010, 2015, 2025).
Duke's defense limited the Bears to 66 points, 10.4 below their season average of 76.4 points per game.
Proctor's seven made three-pointers is tied for second-most in an NCAA Tournament game, matching Quinn Cook's seven against Mercer on March 21, 2014, and trailing only Jared McCain's eight triples against James Madison on March 24, 2024.
Proctor's three-point percentage (.875) is the highest by a Duke player in an NCAA Tournament game, surpassing Bobby Hurley's 6-of-7 (.857) showing against Southern Illinois on March 18, 1993.
The 9-of-10 (.900) overall shooting performance by Proctor is tied for second-best single-game shooting percentage by a Blue Devil in the NCAA Tournament, joining Marshall Plumlee's 9-of-10 performance against UNC Wilmington on March 17, 2016.
In the first and second round contests in Raleigh, Flagg tallied 32 points, 16 boards and 10 assists to become the first Blue Devils with 30+ points, 15+ rebounds and 10+ assists in consecutive games during a single NCAA Tournament since Grant Hill in 1994, per @ESPNStatsInfo.
Mason Gillis registered six points, four rebounds and a steal in 18 minutes of action, finishing with a team-best plus-minus of +26.

Scheyer Breaks ACC Record for Most Victories in First Three Seasons

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has achieved a career record of 87-21 after Saturday's ACC championship game victory for a winning percentage of .806.
Scheyer's 87 victories exceed the standard set by Bill Guthridge (80, North Carolina, 1997-2000) for the most wins by an ACC coach in their first three seasons.
Scheyer became the first coach in conference history to win two ACC Tournament championships in his first three seasons as a head coach.
Scheyer is one of four finalists for the Naismith Coach of the Year award, and was named NABC South Atlantic District Coach of the Year.

Duke Continues to Rank 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 a raw defense efficiency rating of 92.9. (as of March 25)
This season, Duke ranks fourth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.383) and sixth in scoring defense (61.7) - both top marks in the ACC.
The 2024-25 Blue Devils are the first Duke team since the 1948-49 season to hold every regular-season opponent to fewer than 80 points.
Based on EvanMiya's Defensive Bayesian Performance Rating, Duke has five of the top nine defenders in the ACC: Cooper Flagg (1st), Maliq Brown (3rd), Kon Knueppel (7th), Khaman Maluach (8th) and Sion James (9th). Flagg ranks as the second-best defender in the nation with a rating of 4.52.
Duke opponents have committed 33 shot clock violations on the season, compared to just eight by the Blue Devils.
Last season, the 2023-24 Blue Devils finished 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).

Blue Devils Evolve into One of the Nation's Top Offenses

While Duke established itself as an imposing defensive unit early in the season, the Blue Devils have evolved into one of the top-rated offenses in the country.
The Blue Devils are No. 1 on KenPom's adjusted offensive efficiency list (129.2), followed by Florida (128.8) and Auburn (128.3).
Duke also owns the top-rated offense by EvanMiya with an offensive performance rating of 21.2, ahead of Florida (19.8) and Alabama (18.9). (as of March 25)
Duke ranks third in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.82), fifth in effective field goal percentage (.579), eighth in field goal percentage (.492), 12th in scoring offense (83.2) and 19th in assists per game (16.9) - all top marks in the ACC.
In the last seven regular-season games (wins over Stanford, Virginia, Illinois, Miami, Florida State, Wake Forest and North Carolina), Duke averaged 95.4 points per contest, while shooting 240-of-452 (53.1%) from the field, 81-of-188 (43.1%) from three-point land and 107-of-128 (83.6%) from the free-throw line.
Against Stanford, Duke averaged 1.68 points per possession, the fourth-highest efficiency against a high-major opponent in the KenPom database (since 1996-97), then 1.31 PPP at Virginia and 1.51 PPP versus Illinois. The offensive rating of 147 during those three games is the best three-game stretch against high-major opponents in KenPom history, topping the previous high of 140 by North Carolina in 2016. (The Athletic)

Flagg Collecting Accolades and Making History

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg was announced as the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year, while being named to the All-ACC First Team, ACC All-Defensive Team and ACC All-Rookie Team.
The Newport, Maine native was named the winner of the 2024-25 Oscar Robertson Trophy as the National Player of the Year and the 2024-25 Wayman Tisdale Award recipient as the National Freshman Player of the Year, presented by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA). He is just the fourth player to sweep both awards, joining Zion Williamson (2019), Anthony Davis (2012) and Kevin Durant (2007).
Flagg is a consensus First Team All-American, being named to the All-America First Team by Sporting News, Associated Press (AP), National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
Flagg is the first consensus First Team All-America selection for Duke since RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson accomplished the feat in 2019.
Flagg is the 22nd all-time Duke player to be named a consensus First Team All-American and his selection is the 25th total in program history - which leads college basketball in the modern era (since 1949). As a freshman, Flagg is the 10th Blue Devil rookie to garner All-America honors.
Flagg was a unanimous first-team selections both to the AP and Sporting News All-America lists.
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 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 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.
The freshman achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average during the fall 2024 semester.
Flagg has posted seven 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 has been voted as the ACC Rookie of the Week a record 12 times (Nov. 18, Nov. 25, Dec. 9, Dec. 23, Jan. 6, Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan. 27, Feb. 3, Feb. 17, Feb. 24, March 10) and the ACC Player of the Week five times (Nov. 25, Jan. 6, Jan. 13, Feb. 3, Feb. 24).
Flagg's 12 ACC Rookie of the Week awards are the conference record, passing the standard of 10 honors by Kenny Anderson of Georgia Tech (1990), Tyler Hansbrough of UNC (2006) and Jabari Parker of Duke (2014).
Flagg became the first ACC player to amass 500 points, 100 assists and 30 blocks in the regular season in the last 25 years, reaching those numbers in 26 games (at Virginia).
Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, currently leads Duke in points (18.7), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.2), steals (1.4) and blocked shots (1.3).
Flagg is the only player to rank among the ACC's top-10 in four of five major statistical categories - scoring (3rd), rebounding (9th), assists (8th) and blocked shots (8th), and is 11th in steals.
Flagg is the third-highest rated player in the history of the KenPom Player of the Year Standings (since 2011) with a rating of 2.637, trailing Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin in 2015 (2.794) and Zach Edey of Purdue in 2024 (2.699).
Flagg currently leads the KenPom Player of the Year Standings with a 2.637 rating, ahead of Auburn's Johni Broome (2.258) and Walter Clayton of Florida (1.529).
Flagg is the top-rated player by EvanMiya with a combined offensive and defensive rating of 10.78, compared to Johni Broome of Auburn, who is second with a 9.47 rating.
Flagg is rated as the No. 1 defender in the ACC and second nationally by EvanMiya with a defensive performance rating of 4.52, which is more than a point ahead of the conference's second-highest rated defender.

Duke Remains No. 1 in Top-25 Polls

Duke moved to the top of both the Associated Press and USA TODAY Coaches top-25 polls on March 10, and remained in the top spot on March 17 after winning three games in Charlotte to capture the ACC Tournament title.
The No. 1 ranking on March 10 was the first time the Blue Devils have been positioned atop the Associated Press poll since Nov. 29, 2021.
Duke has now been ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation for 147 weeks, more than any other program in the country.

On This Date

Duke has a record of 2-3 on March 27.
The Blue Devils are 2-2 in NCAA Tournament games played on this date.
On March 27, 1978, Duke fell to Kentucky, 94-88, in the national championship game in St. Louis, under head coach Bill Foster.
In Duke's last game on this date in 2015, the Blue Devils defeated Utah, 63-57, in the regional semifinal in Houston.

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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