Men's Basketball Looks To Keep Streaks Alive

Duke (#3 AP/#3 USA Today) vs. Maryland (#23 AP/#22 USA Today)
February 9, 2000 * 9:00 pm * Raycom/JP Sports
Cameron Indoor Stadium * Durham, N.C.

BLUE DEVILS BRING WINNING STREAKS INTO MARYLAND CONTEST
Duke (18-2, 9-0), ranked third in both major polls this week, puts several winning streaks on the line when 23rd-ranked Maryland (16-6, 5-4) visits Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 9. The Blue Devils have a record 31-game ACC regular season winning streak, a 46-game home winning streak and an 18-game overall victory stretch, the nation's best, entering the Maryland contest.

Duke is coming off an impressive 106-86 win over Virginia at Cameron on February 5. The Devils shot 60.9 percent from the field vs. the Cavaliers, a squad that took Duke to overtime earlier this season in Charlottesville.

Duke tops the ACC in scoring (90.2 ppg), scoring margin (20.0 ppg) and free throw percentage (.747).

ACC DOMINATION
Duke has dominated ACC regular season play over the last decade with the last three seasons on an unprecedented level. Duke's current 31-game ACC winning streak includes an historic 16-0 record and an average winning margin of 24.3 points in 1998-99.

Duke owns a 50-3 record in the last 53 ACC regular season games with all three losses coming to Top 10 ranked ACC opponents. The Blue Devils have won six of the last nine ACC regular season titles and the last three in a row.

MORE ABOUT DUKE
Senior Chris Carrawell and junior Shane Battier are both leading candidates for All-America and National Player of the Year accolades.

Carrawell has 80 career starts and earlier this year became Duke's 45th all-time player to score 1,000 career points. He is also on the all-time top 10 blocked shots list. The versatile all-court performer had a career-high 30 points against N.C. State on Jan. 19 and has registered 10 20-point-plus performances, including 25 vs. Virginia February 5. He is among ACC leaders in points (18.3) field goal (50.8) and free throw percentage (77.1), and assist-to-turnover ratio (65/39).

Battier earned the 1999 National Defensive Player of the Year honor. He is looking to repeat with 38 steals, a team-high 43 blocked shots and 18 charges taken. He has also averaged 16.3 points and a team-best 6.4 boards. Battier recorded his second consecutive double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds vs. Virginia February 5. In two games last week, Battier averaged 23.0 points and 10.5 boards.

Freshman Jason Williams is the third player to have started all 20 games as Duke has employed six different starting lineups. Williams is scoring 14.7 points per game and leads the squad in assists (5.8). He is coming off the best floor game as a collegian, registering a career-best 13 assists vs. Virginia. The 13 assists tied the Duke freshman record with Bobby Hurley.

Tri-captain Nate James (10.2 ppg) has had 11 double-digit scoring performances, including in five ACC games.

Freshman Carlos Boozer continues to improve and has averaged 16.9 points and 7.1 rebounds since returning to the starting lineup on December 11. He had 25 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes vs. Virginia last Saturday.

Freshman Mike Dunleavy is often Duke's first player off the bench and is averaging 9.9 points a game.

DUKE/MARYLAND - THE SERIES
This is the 143rd meeting between Duke and Maryland. The Blue Devils lead the all-time series, 91-51, including an 80-70 win at 12th-ranked Maryland on January 9. Duke has won six in a row over the Terps and four in succession at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke's average margin of victory over Maryland is 16.8 points during its current four-game home winning streak vs. the Terrapins.

Duke has won 28 of the last 33 meetings between the two schools. Under head coach Mike Krzyzewski, the Blue Devils have compiled a 32-12 mark vs. the Terps.

LAST GAME - #3 DUKE 106, VIRGINIA 86
Third-ranked Duke defeated Virginia for the 11th consecutive time with a 106-86 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium February 5. Coming off their emotional overtime victory at North Carolina two nights earlier, the Blue Devils never trailed and raced to a commanding 65-33 halftime lead.

Three Duke players -- Chris Carrawell (25), Carlos Boozer (25) and Shane Battier (21) -- reached 20 points in scoring and Battier garnered his second consecutive double-double with 11 rebounds as well. Playing with an injured right hand, guard Jason Williams tied the Duke freshman record with a career-best 13 assists while committing just two turnovers. He also added 13 points.

Duke shot 60.9 percent from the field, its second-best shooting day of the 1999-2000 season, en route to its sixth 100-point game of the year. The 106 points were the third-highest in a game by Duke this season (the Devils reached 109 vs. both Davidson and Virginia). It was also the fifth time in a row that Duke broke the century mark vs. Virginia.

The Blue Devils outrebounded the Cavaliers, 41-30, for their largest rebound advantage since a +16 margin vs. William and Mary on January 2.

BLUE DEVIL WINNING STREAK FIRST IN NATION
Duke's current 18-game winning streak is the longest in the country after Syracuse's loss at home to Seton Hall Monday night. The three longest current winning streaks belong to Duke (18), Cincinnati (14) and Central Connecticut State (14).

Here is a look at the nation's longest current winning streaks:


Team                      Consecutive Wins  Next Opponent
Duke                      18                Feb. 9 vs. Maryland
Cincinnati                14                Feb. 13 vs. DePaul
Central Connecticut State 14                Feb. 10 vs. Monmouth

MORE ON THE CURRENT DUKE WINNING STREAK
Duke enters the Maryland game with an 18-game overall winning streak. The Blue Devils dropped the first two games of 1999-2000 by a total of six points to current top 15 teams Stanford and Connecticut. Since then, Duke has won 18 in succession by an average of 22.2 points per game. The current 18-game winning streak is the third-longest winning streak for Duke under Mike Krzyzewski. Here is a look:


Winning Streak  Season   Final Record
 32             1998-99  37-2
 21             1985-86  37-3
 18             1999-00
 17             1991-92  34-2
 16             1985-86  37-3

THE CAMERON ADVANTAGE
The Blue Devils have had a great deal of success in famed Cameron Indoor Stadium, winning over 80 percent of their games all-time. The 1999-2000 season marks the 60th Anniversary of playing in Cameron. Duke is in a current school record and ACC record 46-game winning streak in Cameron. The streak dates back to an 81-69 loss to then-No. 2 Wake Forest on January 11, 1997.

During the 46-game streak, Duke has a winning margin of 41.6 points in the 20 non-ACC games. In the 26 ACC games, the winning margin has been 20.8 points per game. The overall point differential becomes 27.8 points per game during the 46-game streak.

Duke's all-time record in Cameron is 604-135 for an 81.7 win percentage in the building that opened January 6, 1940. The 604 wins is the most in the ACC and fourth-highest total in the country on a current home court. The Blue Devils are coming off the most successful decade in Cameron history with an incredible 133-17 record in the 1990's.

Under Coach K, Duke owns a 246-42 record for an 85.4 winning percentage since 1980-81. Duke has also won 125 of its last 127 games against non-conference opponents in Cameron. During the non-league stretch, the Blue Devils have reached the 100-point mark 45 times, including three times this season.

The only two losses to non-conference teams in Cameron since 1983 have come against Illinois on December 2, 1995, and Michigan on December 8, 1996.

Duke's 46 straight wins at home is the second-longest streak in the country behind only Utah's 48 (the Utes play San Diego State at home February 10). Cincinnati has the nation's third-longest home winning streak with 41 (the Bearcats play at home again on February 13 vs. DePaul).

DUKE'S BALANCING ACT
After losing 74 percent of its scoring and 64 percent of its rebounding totals because of departing players, everyone asked from where was Duke going to get its scoring and rebounding in 1999-2000. Through 20 games, it has been an overall team effort. All five starters are averaging double figures in points and 4.4 or more rebounds a contest. A sixth player, Mike Dunleavy, comes off the bench and is averaging 9.9 points and 4.2 rebounds a contest. No Coach K team has ever featured six players scoring in double-figures or averaging 4.2 rebounds.

DEVIL YOUTH MOVEMENT
Duke's roster features seven freshmen with two in the starting lineup (Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer) and two more among the first off the bench (Mike Dunleavy and Nick Horvath).

As a group, the freshmen have scored 829 of the team's 1,803 points to account for 46.0 percent and 357 of the team's 817 rebounds for 44.0 percent of the totals. In assists, the freshmen class has dished out 184 of the team's 346 for 53.2 percent.

DUKE IS ALL FOR CHARITY
Hitting free throws has always been a way of earning points and in recent years the trend nationally has been a downward slide in shooting percentage from the charity stripe. At Duke, it has remained a part of the daily practice routine and it continues to pay off as the Blue Devils lead the ACC at 74.7 percent in all games (a 73.5 percentage in league contests).

For the year, Duke has made 389 free throws, which is much more than its opponents have even attempted (323). Duke shot a season-high 82.8 percent from the free throw line against North Carolina A&T. The Blue Devils also made an impressive 32-of-40 against N.C. State on Jan. 19 in a 92-88 overtime victory.

HIGH-SCORING BLUE DEVILS
Duke is once again among the national leaders in scoring by averaging a lofty 90.2 points per game in 1999-2000. Through games of January 31, the school's scoring figure ranked number two in the country, behind only TCU. Last year, Duke led the country in scoring at 91.8 points per game and scoring margin at 24.6 points per game.

This year, Duke has had six games scoring over 100 points and recorded a streak of three straight against Michigan, North Carolina A&T and Davidson for the first time since 1996-97. Duke has reached 90 or more points in nine of its last 13 games.

This year's scoring margin is 20.0 points per game. As of January 31, Duke led the country in scoring margin.

In nine ACC games, Duke is still averaging an impressive 90.2 points a game, which easily leads the conference. Duke's margin of victory over ACC foes is also a league-best 16.8 points per game this season.

If Duke can maintain its current scoring pace, this would be the third team in school history to average at least 90 points per game. Here is a look at the Devils' highest-scoring teams:


Season   Duke PPG  Opp.   PPG Scoring Margin
1964-65  92.4      77.8   +14.6
1998-99  91.8      67.2   +24.6
1999-00  90.2      70.2   +20.0
1989-90  89.1      76.6   +12.5
1975-76  88.3      85.0   +3.3

DUKE AND THE RANKINGS
Duke has been ranked a season-best No. 3 in both major polls the past three weeks and has now been ranked in the Top 25 for 69 consecutive polls. Duke re-entered the nation's top 10 eight weeks ago after a five-week period of being in the second 10. During Mike Krzyzewski's tenure at Duke, the Blue Devils have spent an incredible total of 231 weeks ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 with 123 of those weeks in the Top 10.

Duke opened the 1999-2000 season with a streak of 43 straight weeks ranked in the AP Top 10 which was the longest active streak in the country. That streak was snapped in the first week when Duke lost its first two contests and fell to No. 18.

The Blue Devils finished the 1998-99 season on top of the national rankings for the first time since 1992. In fact, it was just the third time in school history that Duke has finished No. 1 in the final poll, joining the 1986 and 1992 squads. Duke finished in the Top 10 in the final AP poll seven times in the 1990's, including eighth in 1997, third in 1998 and first in 1999.

Duke owns a 3-2 record, including three straight wins, against Top 25 teams in 1999-2000.

BLUE REIGN - THE 1990s & FOREVER
Over the past 15 years, the Blue Devils have dominated opponents outside the ACC by a wide margin. In that span, Duke owns a 242-32 record (88.3 percent) against non-conference teams, including the NCAA Tournament.

In the 1990's, Duke owned the third-highest total of wins with 271 victories. Duke has also climbed into fourth place for the most all-time wins in NCAA history with 1,603.

Duke has a current streak of 60 straight wins over unranked opponents. The last loss to an unranked team came on December 13, 1997 at Michigan, 81-73. The Blue Devils were ranked No. 1 in the country entering that contest.

ACC DOMINATION - PART TWO
Duke has dominated ACC regular season play over the last three seasons, topping it with an unprecedented 16-0 record and an average winning margin of 24.3 points in 1998-99.

The Blue Devils are just the fourth league team to win three or more straight outright ACC regular season titles. The others were Duke (1963-66) and North Carolina (1967-69 and 1976-78). Duke is gunning for its fourth consecutive conference title in 1999-2000.

ACC STANDINGS 1997-2000*
No.  School          W   L   Pct.
1.   Duke            52  5  .912
2.   North Carolina  39  18 .684
3.   Maryland        36  20 .643
4.   Wake Forest     28  29 .491
5.   Clemson         22  34 .393
6.   Florida State   21  35 .375
7.   N.C. State      20  37 .351
8.   Virginia        19  37 .339
9.   Georgia Tech    17  38 .309

* - totals will not include the Clemson/Wake Forest game to be played Feb. 8

ACC REGULAR SEASON TITLES IN THE 1990s
No. School         Outright Share Total
1.  Duke           6        0     6
2.  North Carolina 1        1     2
3.  Clemson        1        0     1
    Georgia Tech   1        0     1
    Maryland       0        1     1
    Virginia       0        1     1
    Wake Forest    0        1     1

DUKE STARTS WITH "D"
The Blue Devils are continuing a long-standing tradition of outstanding team defense in 1999-2000 after multiple seasons of inspired efforts on the court.

Duke's field goal percentage defense of 39.1 in 1998-99 was the lowest in the Coach K era and the best at Duke since the 1959-60 squad limited opponents to 38.3 percent shooting from the field. This season, Duke's limiting opponents to 39.8 shooting percentage from the field and the steal rate of 10.1 per game has outpaced the 1998 team's 9.4 per game.

DUKE'S DEFENSIVE NUMBERS
Category         1992  1993  1994  1995  1996  1997  1998  1999  2000
Opp. FG Pct.     46.7  44.2  41.5  43.9  43.7  42.2  41.1  39.1  39.8
Opp. 3pt FG Pct. 38.2  28.9  29.7  38.6  33.5  34.0  30.5  30.1  32.9
Opp. Points/G    72.6  71.2  67.3  73.7  69.8  66.2  64.1  67.2  70.2
Blocks/Game       3.9   5.0   6.0   4.4   3.6   4.0   5.1   6.3   6.1
Steals/Game       8.2   8.4   7.1   5.7   6.0   8.5   9.4   8.9  10.1
Opp. TO/Game     17.8  17.9  15.1  13.6  16.0  18.2  19.9  17.7  19.6

DUKE MATCHES SCHOOL RECORD FOR OVERTIME GAMES
In its 90-86 win at North Carolina February 3, Duke played its fifth overtime game of the season (the Devils are 4-1 in OT this season). It was only the second time in Duke history that the Devils had played five overtime games. The only other season in which Duke played five overtime games was the 1957-58 campaign.

Duke played nine overtime periods in 1957-58, including two double-overtime contests and a triple-OT affair. The nine OT periods still stand as the school record.

CARRAWELL MAKING CASE FOR ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Duke senior Chris Carrawell continues to make a strong case for ACC Player of the Year honors. In leading the Blue Devils to their 106-86 win vs. Virginia, Carrawell matched Carlos Boozer for a team-best 25 points. It was his third consecutive 20-point effort and fourth in the last five games.

The only player to see action in every game of Duke's current 31-game ACC regular season winning streak, Carrawell leads the team in scoring (18.3), minutes (713), field goals made (131), field goals attempted (258), three-point percentage (.435) and free throws attempted (109). The St. Louis native has reached double figures in scoring in 19 of 20 games this season, including the past 12 outings. He is averaging 21.8 points and shooting 57.1 percent from the field (40-70) and 41.6 percent from three-point range (5-12) the past five games. Prior to this season, Carrawell had never scored 20 points in a college game. This year, he has tallied 11 20-point games, a figure that ranks first on the team. Carrawell enters the Maryland contest with 1,245 career points, which puts him 29th on Duke's all-time scoring list. Immediately ahead of Carrawell are Bernie Janicki with 1,247 points and Joe Belmont with 1,267.

BATTIER LOOKING TO REPEAT AS DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF YEAR
Coach K has called Shane Battier one of the most fundamentally sound defensive players he has ever had in his program and for good reason. The junior from Birmingham, Mich. was named the National Defensive Player of the Year by the NABC in 1999 after setting the school record for most charges taken and leading the team with 65 steals and recording 43 blocked shots.

Charges taken have become his specialty for in the past two seasons as he has set the school record twice with 29 in 1997-98 and 36 in 1998-99. He has a team-high 18 this season for a career total of 83 heading into the Maryland contest.

On the offensive side of the ball, Battier has developed his game tremendously over the course of his career. This year, he is second on the team in scoring at 16.3 points per game, leads the league in free throw shooting at 84.6 percent and has connected on 47.2 percent of his shots from the field and 38.5 percent from three-point range. Battier has been on an offensive tear recently, averaging 19.5 points and connecting on 59.4 percent (19-of-32) of his shots the past four games. The 6-8, 215-pounder has recorded back-to-back double-doubles. At North Carolina February 3, he had 25 points and 10 rebounds. He followed that game with a 21-point, 11-rebound afternoon vs. Virginia two days later. Battier also connected on 20 of his 23 free throw attempts (.870) in those two games.

Battier is closing in on 1,000 career points. He currently has 938 points. He would be Duke's 46th player to go over the mark.

REJECTION DEFENSE
Shane Battier has quickly moved up Duke's all-time rejection list, currently standing in fourth place with 139 career blocked shots. Against N.C. State on Jan. 19, he recorded five blocks to move pass Grant Hill for fourth on the career rejection list. He needs just seven more rejections to move past Christian Laettner for third all-time at Duke.

This year, Battier has already secured 43 blocks to lead the team and currently stands among the ACC leaders. A year ago, he had 43 rejections, the second-highest figure on the team.

Battier has tallied at least two blocked shots in 12 of 20 games, including a career-high seven rejections at Maryland.

Senior Chris Carrawell has also moved into the career top 10 list and will become the 10th player in Duke history to topple the century mark with two more.

WILLIAMS NOT PLAYING LIKE A FRESHMAN
Duke freshman point guard Jason Williams is certainly not playing like a rookie college point guard. He leads the squad with 5.8 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Williams, who has reached double digits in scoring in 18 of 20 games this year, also ranks third on the team in scoring (14.7).

Against Virginia February 5, Williams dished out a career-best 13 assists while turning the ball over just two times. The 13 assists matched the Duke freshman record previously established twice by Bobby Hurley in 1990. The 13 assists were the most in a game by a Duke player since Chris Collins had 13 vs. Western Carolina on December 20, 1995. He was named ACC Rookie of the Week on February 7 for his performances vs. North Carolina and Virginia.

After his first nine games, Williams had a +6 assist-to-turnover margin (51-45). He had five or more turnovers in six of those nine games. During his last 11 outings, he is +28 (65-37) and has recorded five or more turnovers just twice. Here is a look at Williams' improvement this season:

           PPG   FG-FGA  FG Pct. Assists TOs
First 9 games 15.4  46-114  .404    51      45
Last 11 games 14.0  60-135  .444    65      37

BOOZER BECOMING LOW POST FORCE
Although he is only a freshman, Duke's Carlos Boozer is establishing himself as one of the best inside players in the ACC. Powered by a team-best 26 dunks, Boozer leads the team and ranks among league leaders in field goal percentage (.631). He ranks second on Duke in rebounding (6.3) and and blocked shots (14) and third among the regulars in free throw percentage (.765).

After two quiet games, the Alaska native is coming off an impressive outing vs. Virginia February 5. Boozer matched Chris Carrawell for a team-best 25 points on 11-of-16 (.688) shooting vs. the Cavs. His 11 field goals made matched the most by a Duke player this season. The two-time ACC Rookie of the Week also added nine rebounds -- his most in six games -- in 23 minutes of action.

TRI-CAPTAIN JAMES PRODUCING WELL
Junior tri-captain Nate James, who has started the last 10 games for Duke, is one of four Blue Devils to average double figures in scoring (10.2) and at least five rebounds (5.0) per game. James has doubled his scoring output from last season (5.0) and nearly doubled his rebounding total (2.6) from a year ago. He has been consistent this season, reaching double figures in scoring in 11 of his last 18 games and at least five rebounds in 12 of 20 games.

DUNLEAVY AMONG NATION'S BEST RESERVES
Mike Dunleavy, only a freshman, is already one of the nation's best sixth men. The 6-7, 200-pound guard is sixth on the team in scoring (9.9) and rebounding (4.2). He has reached double figures in scoring nine times, including a career-best 21 points at Virginia January 5. The Lake Oswego, Ore. native averages 25.6 minutes per game.

Against ACC foes, his scoring output rises to 10.2 points and his field goal percentage of .517 is third-best on the team. At North Carolina February 3, he calmly sank two free throws with 8.7 seconds remaining in overtime to seal Duke's fourth consecutive victory over the Tar Heels.

DUKE GUNNING FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE REGULAR SEASON ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
With its 9-0 league record, Duke is aiming for its fourth consecutive outright regular season Atlantic Coast Conference championship in 1999-2000. If this year's Duke squad can accomplish that feat, it would be just the second time in ACC history a school won four straight outright titles. Duke did it four times in succession from 1963-66. The last ACC program to win or share four straight league championships was North Carolina from 1982-85.

DUKE BY THE NUMBERS
The fourth-winningest program in among all NCAA programs, Duke is currently in one of the greatest stretches in its storied history. Consider that Duke has:

Won 18 games in a row, the nation's second-longest current winning streak

Won an ACC-record 31 consecutive regular season games

Won an ACC-record 46 consecutive games at Cameron Indoor Stadium

Won an ACC-record 16 consecutive regular season road games vs. league opponents

Won 28 consecutive games vs. ACC foes, including league tournament contests (the ACC record for such a streak is 33 held by N.C. State from 1973-75)

Won 11 of its last 14 games vs. opponents ranked in the AP top 25

Won 50 of its last 53 regular season ACC games (.943)

Won 87 of its last 95 games overall (.916)

Won 125 of its last 127 games against non-conference opponents in Cameron Indoor Stadium (.984)

Won 60 straight games over unranked opponents

Won 43 in succession against unranked ACC teams

Won 17 consecutive games during the month of February dating back to 1998

Won 47 of its last 55 games away from Cameron Indoor Stadium dating back to 1997 (.855)

DEVIL TALES
During the past three games, Duke had an average halftime lead of 30.3 points. Duke had a +74 scoring advantage at halftime of its last two home games...With its 106-86 win over Virginia February 5, Duke has now reached 100 or more points in each of the last five meetings vs. the Cavaliers. That marks the first opponent in Duke history against which the Blue Devils have topped the century mark five consecutive times (Duke scored 100+ points three times in a row vs. Harvard, Wake Forest and William and Mary)...Duke's freshman class has combined to make 39 starts this season, the most by any ACC team. Virginia's rookies have garnered the second-most starts by a league team with 26...Duke's Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier are both strong candidates for ACC Player of the Year honors in 1999-2000. Their teammate from last season, Elton Brand, won the award last season. Should one of the two Duke players win the award, it would be just the third time in league history that the same school has produced two different ACC Players of the Year in back-to-back seasons. North Carolina's Len Rosenbluth and Pete Brennan did it in 1957 and 1958 and Duke's Art Heyman and Jeff Mullins did it in 1963 and 1964.

Season Statistics

Men's Basketball Looks To Keep Streaks Alive

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