Top-10 Clash Between Duke, Alabama in Elite Eight

The Opening Tip

No. 1 Duke faces No. 7 Alabama in the regional final of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday, March 29. The Blue Devils (34-3) and Crimson Tide (28-8), tip off at 8:49 p.m., on TBS/truTV.
Brian Anderson, Jim Jackson and Allie LaForce will call the action on TBS/truTV. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.
Duke owns the second-highest net rating (38.88) 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 30 of their last 31 games since late November, including the nation's second-longest current win streak at 14 consecutive victories.
Duke leads the nation in scoring margin (+21.1) and ranks third in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.83), third in effective field goal percentage (.582), sixth in field goal percentage (.494), sixth in field goal percentage defense (.385), seventh in scoring defense (62.5), ninth in turnovers per game (9.3), 11th in rebound margin (+7.6), 11th in three-point percentage (.385), 12th in scoring offense (83.6), 17th in assists per game (17.0) and 19th in three-pointers per game (10.3) - all top marks in the ACC.
Duke leads the ACC in scoring offense (83.6) and scoring defense (62.5), 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-five in both offensive (1st) and defensive (5th) 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 63 points per game (62.5).
Duke achieved a 60-50-80 shooting percentage split in consecutive games (Baylor and Arizona) for the first time in program history.
The 282 points are the most in the first three NCAA Tournament games by a Duke team.
Jon Scheyer is the first coach in conference history to win two ACC Tournament championships in his first three seasons as a head coach.
Scheyer's 88 career victories is tied with Arizona's Tommy Lloyd for third among Division I head coaches in their first three seasons. Brad Underwood and Brad Stevens had 89.
Cooper Flagg is the first player in Duke and NCAA Tournament history to post 30 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals in a game.
Kon Knueppel is shooting 64.7% from the field and 55.6% from distance in the tournament.

Opponent Notes

Duke leads the all-time series with Alabama, 8-3, and has won all seven meetings with the Crimson Tide since 1956.
Saturday is the first clash between Duke and Alabama in the NCAA Tournament. The schools met in the 1981 NIT.
In the last meeting, Duke defeated Alabama, 74-64, on Nov. 27, 2013, in the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.
Alabama leads the nation in scoring offense (91.4 points per game) and rebounds per game (42.7), and ranks seventh nationally in both free throws attempts per game (25.5) and free throws made per game (18.3).
The Crimson Tide boast five active players averaging double-digits in scoring, topped by First Team All-American Mark Sears with 19.0 points per game, along with a team-high 184 assists.
Sears is seventh in the nation with 199 made free throws, connecting on 85.0% from the foul line.
Grant Nelson leads the team with 7.6 rebounds per game and 43 blocked shots, and is third on the squad with 11.5 points per contest.
Nate Oats is in his sixth season as Alabama head coach.

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 125-41 (.753) 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 125 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 62-17 (.785) record when playing out of the East.
Duke is 57-10 (.851) all-time as a No. 1 seed.

Last Time Out

The freshman duo of Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel helped lead No. 1-seed Duke into the Elite Eight, as the Blue Devils (34-3) defeated Arizona (24-13), 100-93, on Thursday, March 27, at the Prudential Center.
Flagg scored 30 points and Knueppel added 20 to pace the top-seeded Blue Devils in the Sweet 16 matchup, while Sion James and Khaman Maluach also reached double-figures, scoring 16 and 13, respectively.
Flagg added a game-high seven assists and shared the team lead for rebounds (six) with his classmate Maluach. Flagg also blocked three shots, becoming the first player in NCAA Tournament history with 30 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in a game.
As a team, Duke finished 33-of-55 (.600) from the field, 11-of-19 (.579) from beyond the arc and 23-of-27 (.852) from the free throw line - the second consecutive game with 60-50-80 shooting splits, marking the first time in Duke program history to accomplish the feat in back-to-back games.
Duke improved its NCAA Tournament record to 125-41 (.753) all-time, marking the best winning percentage in tournament history by a team with a minimum of 20 games played.
With the win, Duke improved to 25-9 (.735) in the Sweet 16 and 62-17 (.785) when playing in the East Region.
The game was the Blue Devils' 11th NCAA Tournament contest played in the state of New Jersey, improving to a record of 11-0.
Duke advances to the regional final for the second consecutive season, and will make its 25th appearance in the Elite Eight overall and 19th since 1985, when the field expanded to 64.
The 19 appearances are the most by any program in the country in that time frame, ahead of North Carolina's 18.
Duke head coach Jon Scheyer improved his career record to 88-21 (.807), including a 7-2 mark in the NCAA Tournament.
Duke shot 19-of-31 (.613) from the field in the first half, the third consecutive half that the Blue Devils shot over 60-percent from the field, after accomplishing the feat in both frames against Baylor on March 23.
The Blue Devils finished the game 33-of-55 (.600) from the field, their second straight game shooting 60 percent or better.
Duke also shot 11-of-19 (.579) from deep and 23-of-27 (.852) from the free throw line, finishing the contest with 60-50-80 shooting splits.
The Blue Devils accomplished a 60-50-80 performance for the second game in a row, after also doing so against Baylor on March 23, marking the first time in program history Duke has done so in back-to-back games.
Duke scored 100 points for the fifth time in its NCAA Tournament history and for the first time since 1993, when the Blue Devils defeated Southern Illinois, 105-70, in the first round of the tournament.
Thursday was Duke's highest scoring performance in a NCAA Tournament regional semifinal contest (prior high 90 vs. UCLA, 1990).
Through three games, Duke has amassed 282 points, the most in the first three NCAA Tournament games by a Duke team. The previous high was 274, during the 1999 tournament.
Duke improved its record to 34-3 overall to become the seventh team in program history to reach 34 victories in a season.

Scheyer Breaks ACC Record for Most Victories in First Three Seasons

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has achieved a career record of 88-21 after Saturday's ACC championship game victory for a winning percentage of .807.
Scheyer's 88 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's 88 victories ties Tommy Lloyd of Arizona for the third-most wins in the first three seasons as a Division I men's basketball head coach. Only Brad Underwood and Brad Stevens are ahead of Scheyer with 89.
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 94.0. (as of March 28)
This season, Duke ranks sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.385) and seventh in scoring defense (62.5) - 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 4.34.
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 (130.2), followed by Florida (129.2) and Auburn (128.3).
Duke also owns the top-rated offense by EvanMiya with an offensive performance rating of 22.4, ahead of Florida (21.0) and Alabama (19.8). (as of March 27)
Duke ranks third in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.83), third in effective field goal percentage (.582), sixth in field goal percentage (.494), 12th in scoring offense (83.6) and 17th in assists per game (17.0) - 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 (19.0), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.3), 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 (6th), 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 2.674, 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 2.674 rating, ahead of Auburn's Johni Broome (2.270) and Walter Clayton of Florida (1.548).
Flagg is the top-rated player by EvanMiya with a combined offensive and defensive rating of 10.90, compared to Johni Broome of Auburn, who is second with a 9.48 rating.
Flagg is rated as the No. 1 defender in the ACC and second nationally by EvanMiya with a defensive performance rating of 4.34, which is more than a point ahead of the conference's second-highest rated defender.
Flagg has distributed 53 assists with just 11 turnovers in his last 11 games – a 4.8 assist-to-turnover ratio.

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 5-1 on March 29 - all NCAA Tournament games.
On this date in 1986, the Blue Devils defeated Kansas, 71-67, in the Final Four in Dallas to advance to the national championship game.
Last season on March 29, Duke beat No. 1-seed Houston, 54-51, in the regional semifinal in Dallas to advance to the Elite Eight.
The Blue Devils have earned four consecutive victories on this date (2024, 2019, 2015, 2013).

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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Top-10 Clash Between Duke, Alabama in Elite Eight

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Players Mentioned

Maliq Brown

Cooper Flagg

Sion James

Kon Knueppel

Khaman Maluach

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Top-10 Clash Between Duke, Alabama in Elite Eight

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Players Mentioned

Maliq Brown

Cooper Flagg

Sion James

Kon Knueppel

Khaman Maluach

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