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Blue Devils Continue Quest Versus Florida
Duke (#1 AP/#1 USA Today) vs. Florida (#11 AP/#11 USA Today)
March 24, 2000 * 7:38 pm * CBS
2000 NCAA Tournament * Syracuse, N.Y.
Duke (29-4, 15-1 ACC), the top-ranked team by AP and USA Today, advanced to the NCAA Tournament East Regional semifinals after a hard-fought 69-64 victory over Kansas on March 19. It is Duke's third consecutive appearance in the Sweet 16 and the 11th time in the past 15 years under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. The Devils are 15-1 all-time in Sweet 16 games.
The Blue Devils will face Florida (26-7, 12-4 SEC) on Friday, March 24. The last time Duke and Florida met in the NCAA Tournament was in 1994 when the Devils topped the Gators, 70-65, to advance to the NCAA Championship game in Charlotte. Oklahoma State and Seton Hall, coached by former Duke player and assistant coach Tommy Amaker, will meet in the other regional semifinal.
The top seed in the East Region, Duke has now entered the NCAA Tournament as a number one seed five times. In three of the previous four times that Duke earned a number one seed, it advanced to the NCAA Championship game. In all three of those title game runs, Duke was the top seed in the East Region.
After losing three starters from the 1999 team that advanced to the NCAA Championship Game, Duke responded with another stellar season. Duke is in position to win its 30th game, which has happened five other times under Krzyzewski.
MORE ABOUT DUKE
Individually, top-ranked Duke is led by All-Americas Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier, who are both finalists for National Player of the Year accolades.
Carrawell, who has played in 116 victories in his Duke career, ranks 22nd among the school's all-time leading scorers (1,439 points). The versatile all-court performer was recently named ACC Player of the Year, as well as to All-America teams by USBWA and the NABC. The St. Louis native has registered a team-best 13 20-point-plus performances and is second on the team in scoring (17.0 ppg).
Battier earned the 1999 National Defensive Player of the Year honor. He is looking to repeat with 67 steals, a team-high 66 blocked shots and 20 charges taken. The second team All-America honoree has also averaged 17.4 points -- best on the team -- and 5.5 boards. Battier leads the Atlantic Coast Conference with a .446 three-point field goal percentage and ranks among league leaders with an .819 free throw percentage.
Freshman Jason Williams, one of three Duke players to start all 33 games, is scoring 14.5 points per game -- third best on the team -- and leads the squad in assists (6.5). Williams, the 2000 ACC Tournament Most Valuable Player, has recorded 110 assists against 54 turnovers in his last 14 games.
Junior tri-captain Nate James (10.9 ppg) has 20 double-digit scoring performances this season, including six of his last eight games. He has averaged 6.0 rebounds over the past four games.
Freshman Carlos Boozer, who averages 13.1 points and a team-high 6.2 rebounds, leads Duke in field goal percentage (.615). Boozer, who has started 26 consecutive games, had 15 points and 13 rebounds to lead Duke past Kansas in Winston-Salem last week.
Freshman Mike Dunleavy is one of the nation's top sixth men. Dunleavy averages 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.
DUKE/FLORIDA - THE SERIES
This is the 16th meeting between Duke and Florida (Duke leads 12-3). The two schools last met on December 9, 1998, at Cameron Indoor Stadium with Duke prevailing, 116-86. Duke holds a 5-1 series edge over Florida in neutral site games.
Duke and Florida have faced each other just once in NCAA Tournament play. That came during the 1994 Final Four in Charlotte. Grant Hill scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Devils past the Gators, 70-65, in that contest. Duke's Cherokee Parks registered a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Duke erased a 39-32 halftime deficit and advanced to the NCAA Championship game for the fourth time in five seasons.
2000 NCAA TOURNAMENT RECAP
FIRST ROUND - #1 DUKE 82, LAMAR 55
Jason Williams scored a team-best 18 points as top-ranked Duke fought past Southland Conference champion Lamar, 82-55, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Winston-Salem, N.C. Williams, fresh off his ACC Tournament MVP honor, also handed out a game-best seven assists.
After leading 44-33 at halftime, Duke went on a 17-9 run to open the second half. The Devils made 11 of 12 of their second-half free throw attempts en route to their 25th consecutive victory in the East Region dating back to 1979.
SECOND ROUND - #1 DUKE 69, KANSAS 64
In matchup between two of the four winningest programs in college basketball history, Duke squeezed out a 69-64 victory over Kansas on March 19 in Winston-Salem, N.C. Shane Battier scored a game-best 21 points for Duke while teammate Carlos Boozer registered a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Blue Devils over the Jayhawks for the sixth time in seven meetings. It was also Duke's 26th consecutive win in the East Region.
Both defenses were suffocating in this battle. Duke won despite shooting .370 from the floor overall, 2-of-17 from three-point range and committing a season-high 23 turnovers. The Blue Devils limited Kansas to 36.2 percent shooting and blocked 10 Jayhawk shots. Battier's eight rejections were a career high and the most ever in a game vs. Kansas.
Duke clawed out of an early 13-4 hole to knot the score at 35-35 by halftime. The Blue Devils went on a 10-4 run to take what appeared to be a comfortable 59-50 lead with 6:14 left in the game. Kansas responded with a 9-0 run over the next 1:51 to tie the score at 59 apiece. Holding a one-point lead, Boozer made a crucial steal that eventually led to two Chris Carrawell free throws to give Duke a 67-64 lead with 24.7 seconds left. Jason Williams closed the scoring with two free throws.
DUKE IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT
Duke, which is making its 24th NCAA Tournament appearance, has been one of the best NCAA Tournament teams in the history of college basketball. The Blue Devils' .761 winning percentage in NCAA Tournament play is best all-time and their 88 tournament games played rank fourth behind only Kentucky (121), North Carolina (111) and UCLA (103).
Duke has 67 NCAA Tournament victories during the NCAA Tournament, including 21 as a number one seed. As a participant coming out of the East Region, Duke has posted a 46-12 overall record (this includes Final Four contests). Duke has a 26-game winning streak in the NCAA Tournament East Region entering the Florida game. As a number one seed, Duke is 21-3 overall, including a 6-0 national championship run in 1992.
The Blue Devils are making their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 16th in the last 17 seasons under Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has advanced to 12 Final Fours, a figure that ranks fourth all-time. Here is a look at Duke's NCAA Tournament success:
MOST NCAA TOURNAMENT GAMES*
Team NCAA Games
Kentucky 121
North Carolina 111
UCLA 103
Duke 88
Kansas 88
Louisville 79
Indiana 76
Syracuse 65
Arkansas 64
Michigan 60
MOST NCAA TOURNAMENT VICTORIES*
Team NCAA Wins
Kentucky 85
North Carolina 78
UCLA 76
Duke 67
Kansas 59
Indiana 52
Louisville 48
Michigan 41
Syracuse 39
Arkansas 39
* games played through 3/19/00
MOST FINAL FOUR APPEARANCES
Team Final 4 Appearances
UCLA 14
North Carolina 14
Kentucky 13
Duke 12
Kansas 10
DUKE'S HISTORIC RUN CULMINATES IN THIRD CONSECUTIVE SWEET 16 APPEARANCE COACH K NAMED ACC COACH OF THE YEAR FOR THE SIXTH TIME ANOTHER 20-WIN SEASON FOR DUKE DUKE AND THE RANKINGS 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.
Duke enters the NCAA Tournament East Regional semifinals having been ranked among the nation's top four teams in 89 of its last 107 games.
DUKE EARNS BACK-TO-BACK NUMBE ONE RANKINGS This marks the fourth time in Duke history that it finished the season with the number one national ranking. The other years were 1986, 1992 and 1999. The Blue Devils advanced to the Final Four in each of those seasons.
Duke became just the sixth team ever -- and the first in 19 years -- to finish number one in the final AP poll for at least two straight seasons. Here is a look:
DUKE EARNS 11th ACC TOURNAMENT TITLE With three wins this season, Duke now owns a 63-36 all-time ACC Tournament record. Eighty-seven Duke players have earned All-ACC Tournament recognition, including six players this season. ACC first team All-Tournament members were Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier, who were both repeat honorees, and tourney MVP Jason Williams. Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy and Nate James each earned second team All-Tournament honors. Williams became just one of seven Duke players and one of four freshmen in league history to earn the Everett Case Award as the tournament MVP.
HIGH-SCORING BLUE DEVILS This year, Duke has scored 100 points or more seven times and recorded a streak of three straight against Michigan, North Carolina A&T and Davidson for the first time since 1996-97. The seven 100-point games have matched the third-most in a single season in Duke history (the school record for 100-point games is nine in 1964-65).
This year's scoring margin is 17.5 points per game. Duke's margin of victory over ACC foes was also a league-best 15.2 points per game.
If Duke can maintain its current pace, this would match the fourth-highest scoring team in school history. Here is a look at the Devils' highest-scoring teams:
CARRAWELL EARNS ACC PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD Carrawell, who has reached double figures in scoring 31 times in 33 games, currently leads the team in minutes (1,175), field goals made (199), field goals attempted (408) free throws made (134) and attempted (173). He ranks second on the team in scoring (17.0), rebounding (6.1) and assists (3.2).
Prior to this season, the St. Louis native had never scored 20 points in a college game. This year, he has tallied 13 20-point games, a figure that ranks first on the team. Carrawell enters the Florida contest with 1,439 career points, which puts him 22nd on Duke's all-time scoring list. Immediately ahead of Carrawell is Vince Taylor with 1,455 points.
CARRAWELL = WINNER
Most Overall Wins
No. of
Player, Team Years Victories
Christian Laettner, Duke 1989-92 122
Danny Ferry, Duke 1986-89 117
Chris Carrawell, Duke 1997-00 116
Greg Koubek, Duke 1988-91 116
Thomas Hill, Duke 1990-93 116
Brian Davis, Duke 1989-92 116
Bobby Hurley, Duke 1990-93 115
Sam Perkins, North Carolina 1981-84 115
Antonio Lang, Duke 1991-94 112
Quin Snyder, Duke 1986-89 112
Eric Montross, North Carolina 1991-94 112
Dave Popson, North Carolina 1984-87 112
MORE ALL-AMERICAS FOR DUKE Carrawell and Battier became the 24th and 25th Duke players to earn All-America status (the 11th and 12th under Mike Krzyzewski). Five Blue Devils have been named to at least one of the major All-America teams in the past three seasons (Roshown McLeod, Trajan Langdon and Elton Brand were the others).
CARRAWELL JOINS ELITE COMPANY AT DUKE BATTIER LOOKING TO REPEAT AS DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF YEAR He is a favorite to become a repeat winner. The junior All-America and Academic All-America selection made a huge statement with a career-best eight blocked shots and two steals in Duke's 69-64 second round NCAA Tournament win over Kansas last week. Battier leads Duke with 66 blocked shots (tied for the sixth-most in a season in school history) and 20 charges taken in 1999-2000. He also has 67 steals, a figure that ranks second on the squad.
Charges taken have become his specialty in the past three seasons. He set the school record twice with 29 in 1997-98 and 36 in 1998-99. He has a team-high 20 this season for a career total of 85 heading into the East Regional semfinals. Battier was named to the ACC All-Defensive Team by league coaches for the second consecutive season.
BATTIER MOVING UP SCORING LIST Battier has been on an offensive tear recently, averaging 19.1 points and connecting on 53.7 percent (102-of-190) of his shots the past 17 games. The 6-8, 215-pounder has reached double figures in scoring 18 consecutive games, including a career-best 34-point outburst vs. Wake Forest February 22. His 34 points were the most by a Duke player in a game since Trajan Langdon had 34 vs. UCLA on February 22, 1998. He also had a 30-point game vs. North Carolina March 4.
Battier is hot from three-point range. Over his last 10 games, he is 35-of-71 (.493) from three-point range. That recent hot streak has put Battier in line to match Quin Snyder (.446 in 1988) for the fourth-most accurate three-point field goal season (.446) in Duke history behind only Christian Laettner (.557 in 1992), Chip Engelland (.554 in 1983) and Jeff Capel (.460 in 1995).
BATTIER AMONG DUKE CAREER TOP 10 LISTS BATTIER NAMED ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICAN DEVIL YOUTH MOVEMENT Three of the freshmen -- Jason Williams (33.9), Boozer (23.8) and Dunleavy (24.2) -- are averaging at least 23 minutes per game. The last time Duke had three or more freshmen average 23 or more minutes per game was during the 1982-83 season when Johnny Dawkins (35.8), Mark Alarie (28.0), David Henderson (24.9) and Jay Bilas (23.0) did it.
The seven freshmen are the most on a Duke varsity roster in school history. The previous high was six freshmen (Henderson, Dawkins, Alarie, Bilas, Bill Jackman and Weldon Williams) in 1982-83.
DUKE IS ALL FOR CHARITY For the year, Duke has made 601 free throws, which is much more than its opponents have even attempted (510). Duke shot a season-high 91.7 percent from the free throw line against Wake Forest February 22, the night it clinched its fourth consecutive outright ACC title.
In the NCAA Tournament, Duke has been very effective from the free throw line. The Devils have made 47 of 58 (.810) of their free throws during the tournament. Meanwhile, Duke opponents are just 12-of-21 (571) from the line the past two games.
DUKE'S BALANCING ACT ACC DOMINATION ACC DOMINATION - PART TWO DUKE STARTS WITH "D" Duke had two players -- Shane Battier and Chris Carrawell -- named to the fifth annual coaches' ACC All-Defensive Team as reported by the Fan's Guide. Battier and Carrawell were the just the second and third unanimous selections to the league All-Defensive Team (Wake Forest's Tim Duncan was unanimous in 1996 and 1997). Since the first year of the coaches' All-Defensive Team voting, seven Duke players -- a league high -- have made the team.
DUKE TURNS UP DEFENSE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT DUKE MATCHES SCHOOL RECORD FOR OVERTIME GAMES Duke played nine overtime periods in 1957-58, including two double-overtime contests and a triple-OT affair. The nine OT periods still stands as the school record.
DUKE OPPONENTS SEEING TRIPLE REJECTION DEFENSE Battier has tallied at least one blocked shot 79 of 106 career games and two or more 47 times. He had a career-high eight rejections vs. Kansas on March 19. The eight blocks were the most in a game vs. Kansas in Jayhawk history. Battier's eight swats tied four others for the second-most blocks in an NCAA Tournament East Region game. Chris Carrawell also moved into the sixth spot among Duke's career blocked shots leaders with 114 (immediately ahead is Grant Hill with 133).
UNSELFISH DEVILS ACC TOURNAMENT MVP WILLIAMS NOT PLAYING LIKE A FRESHMAN Against St. John's February 26, Williams matched his career high with 13 assists. The 13 assists matched the Duke freshman record previously established once by Williams earlier this season and twice by Bobby Hurley in 1990. Williams has recorded double-doubles in four of his last nine games (points-assists) and now has six career double-doubles.
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 24 outings, he is +73 (162-89) and has recorded five or more turnovers just five times. Against Lamar in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Williams did not commit a turnover for the first time as a collegian. Williams' 6.5 assists per game are the sixth-most among freshman in ACC history:
BOOZER BECOMING LOW POST FORCE In the NCAA Tournament, Boozer has played extremely well. He's averaged 15.5 points and 9.0 boards, while shooting .611 from the field. He recorded his second career double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds against Kansas in the second round.
ROOMMATES AMONG DUKE'S TOP-SCORING FRESHMEN TRI-CAPTAIN JAMES PRODUCING WELL Although he played in just six non-league games in 1998 before redshirting, James has been part of all of Duke's four consecutive outright regular season ACC title teams. He and teammate Chris Carrawell are the first two ACC players to compete on four outright title teams and just the fifth and sixth players to play on four consecutive teams that won or shared ACC regular season titles. Here is a look at those players:
DUNLEAVY AMONG NATION'S BEST RESERVES He has reached double figures in scoring 13 times, including a career-best 21 points at Virginia January 5. After missing the previous four games with mononucleosis, he averaged 12.0 points en route to being named second team ACC All-Tournament. In three ACC Tournament games, Dunleavy was 12-of-17 (.705) from the field, including 7-for-9 (.778) from three-point range.
ROAD SUCCESS FOR THE DEVILS DUKE-FLORIDA TIES EXTEND BEYOND EAST REGION SEMIS NCAA TOURNAMENT NOTES
All-time NCAA Tournament Results Season Statistics
NCAA TOURNAMENT WINNING PERCENTAGE*
Team Record Pct.
Duke 67-21 .761
UCLA 76-27 .738
North Carolina 78-33 .703
Kentucky 85-36 .702
UNLV 30-13 .698
Indiana 52-24 .684
Michigan 41-19 .683
Kansas 59-29 .670
Cincinnati 35-18 .660
Ohio State 36-19 .655
Including this year's 29-4 record, Duke has posted a 98-10 overall record (.907) the past three seasons en route to Sweet 16 appearances in all of those years. Duke's 98 victories the past three seasons are tied for the third-most in college basketball history over a three-year period behind only Kentucky's 1996-98 teams (104-11) and the Wildcats' 1947-49 squads (102-8). Here is a look at college basketball's all-time victory leaders over a three-year period:
Team First Year Last Year Won Lost
Kentucky 1996 1998 104 11
Kentucky 1947 1949 102 8
Duke 1998 2000 98 10
Kansas 1996 1998 98 11
UNLV 1986 1988 98 13
UNLV 1989 1991 98 14
Kentucky 1997 1999 98 18
After leading Duke to a 15-1 regular season ACC record and its fourth straight outright league title, Mike Krzyzewski was named ACC Coach of the Year for the sixth time this season. Krzyzewski's six ACC Coach of the Year awards are the second-most by any coach in league history. Despite suffering several departures from last year's team that advanced to the NCAA Championship Game, Krzyzewski led his team -- with seven freshmen on the roster -- to the Sweet 16 for the third consecutive season, the ACC regular season and tournament championships, a 29-4 record and the nation's number one ranking.
With 29 victories so far this season, Duke has earned its 34th 20-win season overall and its 15th in 20 seasons under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Duke has won 20 or more games in four consecutive seasons. Including this year's 29 wins, Duke has averaged 30.5 victories over the past four seasons (122 victories). Should Duke defeat Florida on March 24, it would be the school's sixth 30-win season under Mike Krzyzewski. That would be the most 30-win seasons by any active coach.
Duke is ranked number one by Associated Press and the coaches and has now been ranked in the Top 25 for 74 consecutive polls. Duke re-entered the nation's top 10 13 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 236 weeks ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 with 128 of those weeks in the Top 10.
Duke became the nation's top-ranked team in the final AP poll released March 13 (Duke was also number one by ESPN/USA Today). After climbing to number one from number 18 earlier this season, Duke has now finished with the nation's number one ranking the past two years. The last time a school was ranked number one in the final AP poll in consecutive years was DePaul in 1980 and 1981. Consecutive Final Number One Rankings (AP)
School Years
Kentucky 1951 and 1952
San Francisco 1955 and 1956
Ohio State 1961 and 1962
UCLA 1971, 1972 and 1973
DePaul 1980 and 1981
Duke 1999 and 2000
Duke earned its 11th ACC Tournament championship and fifth under Mike Krzyzewski with its 81-68 win over Maryland on March 12. The Blue Devils have won back-to-back ACC Tournament titles, as well as four consecutive outright ACC regular season championships. The Blue Devils' 11 ACC Tournament championships are the second-most in league history. Duke has earned ACC Tournament titles in 1960, 1963, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1988, 1992, 1999 and 2000.
Duke is once again among the national leaders in scoring by averaging a lofty 88.3 points per game in 1999-2000. Last year, Duke led the country in scoring at 91.8 points per game and scoring margin at 24.6 points per game.
Season Duke PPG Opp. PPG Scoring Margin
1964-65 92.4 77.8 +14.6
1998-99 91.8 67.2 +24.6
1989-90 89.1 76.6 +12.5
1999-00 88.3 70.8 +17.5
1975-76 88.3 85.0 +3.3
Duke senior Chris Carrawell's consistency this season helped him earn the ACC Player of the Year award (AP). Carrawell became the ninth Duke player to earn the league player of the year award, joining Art Heyman (1963), Jeff Mullins (1964), Steve Vacendak (1966), Mike Gminski (1979), Danny Ferry (1988, 1989), Christian Laettner (1992), Grant Hill (1994) and Elton Brand (1999).
As impressive as all his individual accomplishments and statistics are, Chris Carrawell's most important legacy at Duke will be the amount of victories of which he was part. Duke's lone senior, who became just one of two players in ACC history to be on four consecutive regular season outright ACC championship teams, has played in 116 victories as a collegian. The 116 overall victories are tied for third among all players in ACC history. Carrawell tops the all-time ACC list with 66 wins in league play during his career.
MOST ACC WINS (includes ACC Tournament games)
No. of
Player, Team Years Victories
Chris Carrawell, Duke 1997-00 66
Sam Perkins, North Carolina 1981-84 56
Eric Montross, North Carolina 1991-94 54
Shane Battier, Duke 1998-00 53
Kevin Salvadori, North Carolina 1991-94 53
Ademola Okulaja, North Carolina 1996-99 52
Dante Calabria, North Carolina 1993-96 52
Shammond Williams, North Carolina 1995-96 52
Christian Laettner, Duke 1989-92 51
Antonio Lang, Duke 1991-94 51
Derrick Phelps, North Carolina 1991-94 51
Duke senior Chris Carrawell and junior Shane Battier were recently named to All-America teams. Carrawell was a first team honoree by both the United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) and the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Battier was a second team All-America by the NABC.
Senior Chris Carrawell is just the second player in Duke history to record 1,000+ points, 600+ rebounds, 100+ blocked shots and 300+ assists. Carrawell has 1,439 points, 602 rebounds, 114 blocked shots and 306 assists in his Duke career. The only other Duke player to accomplish that feat was Grant Hill (1,924 points/769 rebounds/133 blocks/461 assists).
Coach K has called Shane Battier one of the most fundamentally sound defensive players he has ever had in his program. 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.
On the offensive side of the ball, Shane Battier has developed his game tremendously. Earlier this year, Battier became the 46th Duke player to reach 1,000 career points. He currently has 1,186 points to rank 30th all-time at the school. Immediately ahead is Bernie Janicki (1,247). This year, he leads Duke and is third in the ACC in scoring at 17.4 points per game. Battier leads the league in three-point field goal percentage (.446) and ranks third in free throw shooting at 81.9 percent. He also ranks among league leaders with a .495 field goal percentage.
Shane Battier has moved into seventh place among Duke's all-time three-point leaders with 121 (immediately ahead is Phil Henderson with 128). Battier's career .413 three-point percentage currently ranks third among the school's all-time leaders behind only Christian Laettner (.485) and Trajan Langdon (.426). Battier also moved into Duke's top 10 career steals leaders. He has 183 steals as a collegian, which ranks ninth among Duke leaders. Battier is already the school's all-time leader in charges taken (85) and third on Duke's career blocked shots list with 162.
Not only does he distinguish himself on the basketball court, but Shane Battier earned first team Academic All-America honors this season as well. Battier, who carries a 3.35 grade point average as a Religion major, joined Jody Lumpkin (Charleston), T.J. Lux (Northern Illinois), Mark Madsen (Stanford) and Brandon Wolfram (UTEP) on the 2000 GTE Academic All-America Team. Battier became Duke's first men's basketball Academic All-America selection since Quin Snyder in 1989 and the eighth player overall to earn that honor.
Duke's roster features seven freshmen with two in the starting lineup and two more among the first off the bench. As a group, the freshmen have scored 1,349 of the team's 2,914 points to account for 46.3 percent and 563 of the team's 1,269 rebounds for 44.7 percent of the totals. In assists, the freshmen class has dished out 319 of the team's 572 for 55.8 percent.
Duke leads the ACC with a 74.4 free throw percentage in all games. Duke is currently one of two ACC teams to make 70 or more percent of its free throws this season.
After losing 74 percent of its scoring and 64 percent of its rebounding totals because of departing players, Duke has utilized a balanced offensive attack to maintain its scoring prowess in 1999-2000. Five Duke players are averaging at least 10.9 points and 4.2 rebounds per game. The Devils' average of 88.3 points per game is just 3.5 points off last year's blistering average of 91.8.
Duke has dominated ACC regular season play over the last five seasons on an unprecedented level. Duke owns a 61-7 record in the last 68 ACC regular season games with six of the seven losses coming to Top 25 ranked ACC opponents. During the past four seasons, Duke has posted a 58-6 regular season ACC record, including a 15-1 mark in 1999-2000. With its 96-78 win over Wake Forest, Duke clinched its 14th regular season ACC championship outright, matching the league record also held by North Carolina.
Duke has put together the most dominating four-year period in ACC history with a 58-6 record and consecutive outright league titles over the past four regular seasons. The 58 regular season wins are the most by any ACC team over four years. In fact, only Duke's 1963-66 teams reached 50 regular season wins over a four-year period (50-6). Here is a look at the best four-year regular season victory runs by ACC teams all-time and the composite league standings from 1997-2000:
BEST FOUR-YEAR ACC REGULAR SEASON VICTORY TOTALS
Team Years Record Pct.
Duke 1997-00 58-6 .906
Duke 1963-66 50-6 .893
Duke 1961-64 48-8 .857
North Carolina 1957-60 48-8 .857
North Carolina 1981-84 48-8 .857
Best Four-Year Regular Season Victory Totals by Other ACC schools
Wake Forest 1960-63 46-10 .821
Virginia 1980-83 44-12 .786
Maryland 1997-00 43-21 .672
N.C. State 1956-59 40-16 .714
Georgia Tech 1993-96 36-28 .563
Florida State 1992-95 34-30 .531
Clemson 1987-90 31-25 .554
The Blue Devils are continuing a long-standing tradition of outstanding team defense in 1999-2000. This season, Duke's limiting opponents to 41.6 shooting percentage from the field. It is the seventh consecutive season that Duke has held opponents to less than 44 percent from the floor. Duke is forcing 17.9 turnovers per game and collecting 9.9 steals per contest. 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 41.6
Opp. 3pt FG Pct. 38.2 28.9 29.7 38.6 33.5 34.0 30.5 30.1 35.4
Opp. Points/G 72.6 71.2 67.3 73.7 69.8 66.2 64.1 67.2 70.8
Blocks/Game 3.9 5.0 6.0 4.4 3.6 4.0 5.1 6.3 5.6
Steals/Game 8.2 8.4 7.1 5.7 6.0 8.5 9.4 8.9 9.9
Opp. TO/Game 17.8 17.9 15.1 13.6 16.0 18.2 19.9 17.7 17.9
Duke has turned up its defensive intensity during the 2000 NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils have limited their first two opponents to 45-of-127 (.354) from the field and registered 17 steals and 15 blocked shots. Here is a comparison of Duke's defensive numbers overall this season to that of the NCAA Tournament:
NCAA Tournament Category Overall
.354 Field Goal Percentage .416
+8.5 Rebound Margin +0.7
14.5 Opponent Turnovers 17.9
8.5 Blocked Shots 5.6
8.5 Steals 9.9
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 third time in Duke history the Devils played five overtime games in the same season. The only other seasons in which Duke played five overtime games were the 1979-80 and 1957-58 campaigns.
Duke has made at least 10 three-point shots in eight of its last 13 games. In the opening round of the ACC Tournament vs. Clemson, Duke established school and ACC Tournament records by making 17 three-pointers. The Devils shot .468 (37-of-79) from three-point range during this year's ACC Tournament. Overall, Duke has made 10 or more three-point shots in a game 14 times this season. The Blue Devils are shooting .389 from behind the arc and average 8.5 treys per game, both figures that rank first in the Atlantic Coast Conference. During the past eight games, Duke is shooting .426 from three-point range (92-of-216).
Shane Battier has quickly moved up Duke's all-time rejection list, currently standing in third place with 162 career blocked shots. Immediately ahead of Battier is Cherokee Parks with 231. This year, Battier has secured 66 blocks to lead the team and stand among the ACC leaders. A year ago, he had 43 rejections, the second-highest figure on the team.
Duke has one of the most unselfish basketball teams in the nation with 572 assists (17.3 per game). The current Blue Devils are continuing a trend in which more than half of the team's field goals have been products of an assist. Under Mike Krzyzewski, 16 of his last 17 Duke teams have registered assists on more than 50 percent of the squad's field goals. Of Duke's 1,016 field goals made this season, 572 of them have come from an assist for a 56.3 percentage. Duke's 17.3 assists per game are the seventh-most by a Blue Devil team under Krzyzewski:
Pct. of Assists
Season Assists FG Made Assisted FGs Per Game
1988-89 684 1163 .588 19.0
1991-92 653 1108 .589 18.1
1990-91 689 1227 .561 17.7
1984-85 542 950 .571 17.5
1989-90 663 1171 .566 17.4
1987-88 610 1068 .571 17.4
1999-00 572 1016 .563 17.3
Duke freshman point guard Jason Williams is certainly not playing like a rookie college point guard. He ranks among ACC leaders with 6.5 assists and 2.4 steals per game. Williams, who has reached double digits in scoring in 29 of 33 games this year, also ranks third on the team in scoring (14.5). Williams was named ACC Tournament MVP after averaging 17.7 points and 9.0 assists in three games. He was also a first team Freshman All-America by Basketball Times, a third team All-ACC selection and runner-up for ACC Freshman of the Year (AP).
Player, School Season APG
Kenny Anderson, Georgia Tech 1989-90 8.1
Bobby Hurley, Duke 1989-90 7.6
Chris Corchiani, N.C. State 1987-88 7.3
Ed Cota, North Carolina 1996-97 6.8
Grayson Marchall, Clemson 1984-85 6.6
Jason Williams, Duke 1999-00 6.5
Although he is only a freshman, Duke's Carlos Boozer is establishing himself as one of the better inside players in the ACC. Powered by a team-best 38 dunks, Boozer leads the team in field goal percentage (.615). If Boozer can maintain his field goal percentage the remainder of the season, he would rank eighth among Duke's all-time single-season leaders. He was an ACC All-Freshman Team honoree. Boozer, who had 21 points in Duke's 81-68 win over Maryland in the ACC Championship Game, was selected to the ACC All-Tournament Second Team.
Duke freshmen Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer, who happen to be college roommates, rank fourth and seventh, respectively, among the Blue Devils' all-time leading freshman scorers. Current Duke associate head coach Johnny Dawkins is the school's all-time freshman scoring leader with 18.1 points per game. Here is a look at Duke's freshman scoring leaders:
Player Season PPG
Johnny Dawkins 1982-83 18.1
Eugene Banks 1977-78 17.1
Mike Gminski 1976-77 15.3
Jason Williams 1999-00 14.5
Elton Brand 1997-98 13.4
Jim Spanarkel 1975-76 13.3
Carlos Boozer 1999-00 13.1
Mark Alarie 1982-83 13.0
Junior tri-captain Nate James, who has started the last 23 games for Duke, is one of five Blue Devils to average double figures in scoring (10.9). 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 20 of his last 31 games. He is averaging 13.8 points and 4.7 rebounds his last six games.
Four-Time ACC Regular Season Title Players (Outright or shared)
Player School Years
Chris Carrawell Duke 1997-2000
Nate James* Duke 1997-2000
Buzz Peterson North Carolina 1982-85
Dudley Bradley North Carolina 1976-79
Ged Doughton North Carolina 1976-79
Randy Wiel North Carolina 1976-79
* - James played in six non-ACC games in 1998 and was redshirted
Mike Dunleavy, only a freshman, has proven himself to be one of the nation's best sixth men this season. The 6-7, 200-pound guard is sixth on the team in scoring (9.3) and fifth in rebounding (4.3). Dunleavy is the ninth highest-scoring freshman during the Coach K era at Duke.
Duke has won 55 of its last 63 games away from Cameron Indoor Stadium dating back to 1997 (.873). After opening the season with back-to-back losses -- by a total of six points -- to then 13th-ranked Stanford and top-ranked Connecticut in New York City, the Blue Devils have won 16 in a row away from Cameron. During their current 16-game road winning streak, the Blue Devils' average margin of victory has been 13.4 points.
The Duke-Florida ties extend beyond Friday's basketball game in Syracuse. Current Blue Devil head football coach Carl Franks, a 1983 Duke gradute, was part of Steve Spurrier's football staffs at Duke from 1987-89 and at Florida from 1990-99. At Florida, Franks was an integral part of a program that competed in eight bowl games and won a national championship. Florida hired Spurrier from Duke after he led the Devils for three seasons, culminating in an appearance in the 1989 All-American Bowl. In addition, current Duke receivers coach Aubrey Hill graduated from Florida in 1996 and Doug Knotts, the Devils' football administrative assistant, coached at Florida from 1970-78. The Devils opened spring football practice Tuesday, March 21.
Duke is the only school in the nation to secure a number one seed in each of the last three NCAA Tournaments...Two of Mike Krzyzewski's former players and assistant coaches -- Tommy Amaker (Seton Hall) and Quin Snyder (Missouri) -- had their teams selected to the 2000 NCAA Tournament field. Seton Hall advanced to the Sweet 16 and is in the same East bracket with Duke...Two other former Krzyzewski assistants -- Mike Brey (Delaware) and Mike Dement (SMU) -- had their respective teams in this year's NIT field...Although it has made several pre- and post-season tournament appearances in the state of New York in its history, Duke will be playing in Syracuse for the first time this week. The Blue Devils have squared off against Syracuse four times, but all came in neutral venues.
