Duke

Duke Eyes No. 1 Seed, Jumps Five Spots In Top 25 And 1

... seriously discussed as No. 1? And while I recognize Oregon and Arizona are terrific, neither can come close to matching Duke’s wins. Arizona has five top-50 RPI wins. Oregon has four. (Gonzaga has six, for those wondering). I have Duke fourth in the updated Top 25 (and one). So you know where I stand. And the fact that Duke’s top seven scorers have combined to miss 25 games - mixed with the fact that its Hall of Fame coach, Mike Krzyzewski, missed seven games, which resulted in three of Duke’s eight losses - also supports Duke’s cause. So does a No. 10 strength of schedule rating, which is two spots better than North Carolina’s, 22 spots better than Arizona’s and 39 spots better than Oregon’s. To be clear, I’m not predicting the selection committee will make Duke a No. 1 seed if it wins Saturday. I’m just strongly suggesting the selection committee should make Duke a No. 1 seed if it wins Saturday. Either way, the Blue Devils’ jump from ninth to fourth in the Top 25 (and one) pushed Kentucky down to No. 9, no fault of its own. Similarly, Notre Dame’s jump from 15 th to 11 th following Friday’s win over Florida State pushed ...

How Duke Got Its Groove Back

... abysmal in the first 20 minutes but managed to advance despite a scoreless performance from Allen. Allen has heated up the past two games, Luke Kennard and Tatum have been as advertised, and the Blue Devils are getting production in the post from Jefferson and Giles. This team finally looks the part of a unit instead of a bunch of talented individuals thrown together. Create up to 10 brackets and compete against ESPN talent, pro athletes, and celebs for all the bracket glory! Play Now for Free. "We're getting it back. We've got so much confidence now, and see how good we are and how good we can be," Giles said. "I think we're confident in our ability to fight," Jefferson added. "We've been down in all three games in the second half. That shows we have a confidence, an air of togetherness as a group.". If the Blue Devils can win the tourney by knocking off Notre Dame on Saturday (ESPN & ESPN App, 9 p.m. ET), they will enter the NCAA tournament with a psyche as confident as it's been all season. Sure, Duke had success in the nonconference slate, but Allen wasn't himself, Giles was still on the mend, and Tatum missed the first eight games. But now Duke is where it was ...

Duke-unc On Friday Is The Best Ncaa Tournament Appetizer

... Carolina-Duke rivalry, the two teams will play in a league semifinal in the Big Apple. Greensboro is great (I got NOTHING but love for G-Town!), but this is a nice little boost for college hoops’ championship week. The ACC tournament has watched Duke and North Carolina meet 20 times (the last time in 2011) but never with this twist of interest. UNC is chasing a No. 1 seed, Duke still has hopes for a No. 3 if it can win out in the ACC. The first time around, Duke won in thrilling fashion on its home floor. In the second game - just last Saturday - UNC won a great one. Now we get the rubber match on a neutral floor, hundreds of miles from pure ACC territory, yet you would never know it in the building. This will be one of the toughest tickets of any game played this month. And much of the college basketball media is on hand to take it all in. Plus, a few miles away in Manhattan, the tournament selection committee is keeping a close eye on all that is happening. The beauty of college basketball at this stage of the calendar is how there are leagues whittling down their playoffs all across the country, in cities big and small. Getting a golden semifinal like ...

Duke Vaults To No. 2, Arizona Eyes No. 1 Seed

... Vermont (America East), Florida Gulf Coast (Atlantic Sun), North Dakota (Big Sky), Winthrop (Big South), UC Irvine (Big West), UNC-Wilmington (CAA), Middle Tennessee State (Conference USA), Northern Kentucky (Horizon), Princeton (Ivy League), Iona (MAAC), Akron (MAC), N. C. Central (MEAC), Wichita State (Missouri Valley), Nevada (Mountain West), Mount Saint Mary's (Northeast), Jacksonville State (Ohio Valley), Bucknell (Patriot), East Tennessee State (Southern), New Orleans (Southland), Texas Southern (SWAC), South Dakota State (Summit), Texas-Arlington (Sun Belt), CSU Bakersfield (WAC). Banned from participating: Southern Mississippi, Alcorn State, Savannah State, Northern Colorado. Transition Schools, ineligible for the tourney: Abilene Christian (Southland), Grand Canyon (WAC), Incarnate Word (Southland), Massachusetts-Lowell (American East). Note: All RPI and statistical data is used from  Warren __link__. About our bracketologist: Shelby Mast has been projecting the field since ...

Duke Back Among Top Programs After Down Year

... earn a share of second place. They won 10 consecutive games and advanced to the championship game before losing to four-time champion Notre Dame. "Last year was kind of a motivating factor for us — lesson learned," sophomore Faith Suggs said. "This year, watching everyone grow together is a really good thing, and hopefully we'll continue it in the next couple of years.". This Duke team is incrementally better than last year's in most of the lines on the stat sheet. The biggest difference is in turnovers, both gained and lost. These Blue Devils have turned it over 95 fewer times than last year while forcing 68 more from their opponents. The major reasons for that is the presence of guard Lexie Brown, who sat out last season after transferring from Maryland, and the maturation of six players who are now sophomores — chiefly Kyra Lambert, who started at point guard last season as a freshman. Those two have created what Mc Callie calls "a ripple effect" that makes things easier on everyone else on the roster. — Duke W. Basketball (@Duke WBB) March 7, ...

No. 9 Uofl-no. 14 Duke

... Cl. Rb. Pts. G-Donovan Mitchell, 6-3, So., 4.7, 15.9. G-Quentin Snider, 6-2, Jr., 2.7, 12.6. F-Deng Adel, 6-7, So., 4.5, 11.6. F-Ray Spalding, 6-10, So., 5.7, 5.8. C-Anas Mahmoud, 7-0, Jr., 3.9, 5.8. Key reserves - Jaylen Johnson, F, 6-9, Jr., 8.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg; Mangok Mathiang, C, 6-10, R-Sr., 7.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg; V. J. King, F, 6-6, Fr., 5.9 ppg, 2.1 rpg; Tony Hicks, G, 6-1, Gr., 4.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg; Ryan Mc Mahon, G, 6-0, R-Fr., 2.6 ppg, 0.5 rpg; David Levitch, G, 6-3, Sr., 2.0 ppg, 1.2 rpg. DUKE (24-8). Pos.-Player Ht. Cl. Rb. Pts. G-Frank Jackson, 6-3, Fr., 2.5, 10.7. G-Luke Kennard, 6-6, So., 5.3, 20.1. G-Matt Jones, 6-5, Sr., 2.9, 7.3. F-Jayson Tatum, 6-8, Fr., 7.4, 16.1. F-Amile Jefferson, 6-9, Gr., 8.6, 11.2. Key reserves - Grayson Allen, G, 6-5, Jr., 14.0 ppg, 3.9 rpg; Harry Giles, 6-10, Fr., 4.2 ppg, 3.9 rpg; Antonio Vrankovic, C, 7-0, So., 2.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg; Marques Bolden, C, 6-11, Fr., 1.7 ppg, 1.2 rpg. ►Prove it: Louisville has a big opportunity on Thursday. The Cards have won some solid road and neutral-court games this season, namely full-strength Indiana in Indianapolis ...

Duke Bee Stalls In Four-way Spell-off

... schools across Orange and Durham counties competing for the regional title. The winner will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D. C., to compete in National Bee Week. In Saturday’s spell-off rounds, if only one competitor spelled his or her word correctly, he or she was compelled to then spell a championship word before being deemed the winner. Failure to spell the championship word resulted in another round beginning with all the previous spellers back in the title hunt. Not among the final four were previous champion Bettie Closs or her younger sister Hanna. The sisters had battled earlier this year during the Lucas Middle School’s Spelling Bee when both went through all the words on the bee list and finally represented the same school. During round seven, the second round with more difficult words, Bettie was knocked out on the word “goliardic” ...

Duke Finally Wild About Harry Giles

... Giles earlier, or more often, playing in his hometown under the tutelage of Danny Manning. And if so, how would that have affected the remarkable development of John Collins. It's certainly something to think about, recognizing all along that we will never know. Unless Harry shocks the world by returning to Duke for a sophomore season, he will remain little more than an asterisk in the annals of ACC basketball history. If he fulfills his bountiful promise with a long and storied NBA career - which, personally, I hope to see - then we'll all be left to regret we never got to see a great player anywhere close to the top of the game. The comparison I used earlier to Kyrie Irving would certainly apply. But if he turns out to be damaged goods after his third knee operation or procedure or whatever you want to call it, then we'll ...

Notre Dame Beats Florida State, Sets Acc Title Game Matchup With Duke

... Duke from the tournament each of the past two seasons, including a semifinal victory in 2015 on the way to the Irish's first conference tournament championship. Dwayne Bacon led Florida State (25-8) with 18 points. No. 14 Duke 93, No. 6 North Carolina 83. Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and No. 14 Duke rallied past No. 6 North Carolina with another lightning-fast surge in the second half, taking advantage of foul trouble for Tar Heels point guard Joel Berry II and beating its fierce rival 93-83 on Friday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference semifinals. Luke Kennard had 20 points and Grayson Allen added 18 off the bench for the Blue Devils (26-8), who will play for the title Saturday night in Brooklyn against No. 22 Notre Dame. By winning the second game between the teams in seven days, fifth-seeded Duke took two of three in the season series against the top-seeded Tar Heels (27-7). It was their first ACC Tournament matchup since the Blue Devils won the 2011 championship game. The rubber match this year was settled on the streets of New York City rather than Tobacco Road, some 500 miles from the Dean Dome ...