The Blue Devils look to end a three-game losing streak against Georgia Tech. Duke plays seven of its next 10 at Cameron Indoor Stadium beginning Tuesday night vs.
the Yellow Jackets at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. The long-time rivals are meeting for the 98th time in a series that dates back to the 1922 season. The Blue Devils lead the series, 74-23, and have won 13 consecutive over the Yellow Jackets.
About Duke:
- The Blue Devils (5-5, 3-3 ACC) have lost their last three games, all on the road to No. 20 Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Louisville, by a total of 18 points, following a 3-0 ACC start. The Blue Devils started conference play with victories over Notre Dame, Boston College and Wake Forest. Duke ranks fourth in the ACC in scoring offense, 10th in scoring defense, in league play.
- Duke has played three consecutive games decided in single digits (18 points total), while being outscored at the free throw by 25 points in those game.
- Sophomore Matthew Hurt — the ACC’s second-leading scorer overall (19.4) and leader in conference play (19.7) — is the nation’s only player to have scored 12+ points, shot better than .400 from the field and have 6+ rebounds in each of his team’s games this season. Hurt also leads the ACC in three-point field goal percentage (.473), is third in the ACC in rebounding (8.2) and fourth in field goal percentage (.536), making him the only player ranked in the ACC’s top five in each category.
- The Blue Devils have deployed seven starting lineups through 10 games, with only Hurt starting each of the 10 games.
- Only three times in at least the last decade has a power conference player had 15+ points, 15+ rebounds, 5+ assists and 4+ blocked shots in a game — freshman Jalen Johnson has two of those three performances.
- Tuesday’s game matches up the steals leaders in the ACC — Georgia Tech senior Jose Alvarado (2.7) and Duke senior Jordan Goldwire (2.5). Goldwire is also second in assist/turnover ratio (+2.5) and 10th in assists (3.5).
- Duke (8.5) and Tech (9.2) are fourth and second, respectively, in the ACC in steals per game — both are ranked in the top 40 nationally.
- Sophomore Wendell Moore Jr., is averaging 11.4 points, 5.0 rebounds and shooting .435 from the field over the last five games after respective averages of 3.8, 2.8 and .219 over the first five games.
About Georgia Tech:
- Georgia Tech holds its highest position (No. 56) in the NCAA NET rankings since the system was instituted, having jumped 12 spots after its win over Clemson. The Jackets are No. 59 in KenPom’s ratings, their highest position during the conference portion of the season since February of 2016.
- Georgia Tech leads the ACC in three-point shooting accuracy at 44.5 percent in conference games. In five seasons under Josh Pastner, Tech’s ranking has been 15, 15, 12, 6 and now 1.
- Tech no longer leads the ACC in scoring after its 64-62 loss at No. 13 Virginia, but is No. 3 at 78.73 points per game. Tech is No. 2 in the ACC in field goal percentage (47.5 pct.) and No. 3 in three-point shooting (38.1 pct.). According to KenPom.com, Tech has the league’s fifth-most efficient offense, and ranks third in effective field goal percentage and fourth in turnover percentage.
- Four Tech starters are averaging in double figure points for the season, led by Jose Alvarado at 17.4 points per game, and also in ACC games, led by Michael Devoe at 16.6.
- Michael Devoe and Jose Alvarado are averaging 16.6 and 16.0 points per game in ACC games, ranking No. 6 and 9, respectively. They have shot 53.6 percent from the floor combined (59-of-110) and 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from three-point range. The Jackets are 4-1 this season when both players score in double digits, including two ACC wins.
- Tech moved 6-9 senior Moses Wright, who has played the “4” position most of his career, into the “5” spot and started 5-10 senior Bubba Parham beginning with the Dec. 6 win over Kentucky. The re-alignment has worked as the Jackets have shot 49.8 percent from the floor, hit 9.2 three-point field goals per game (41.3 percent), turned the ball over just 89 times and forced 144 in its last nine games. Tech also has assisted on 62.8 percent of its field goals in that stretch.
Duke vs Georgia Tech:
- In Durham, Duke leads the series 36-5 — with each coming at Cameron Indoor Stadium — and has won 10 straight home games.
- The Blue Devils’ 13-game winning streak in the series is the team’s longest active streak against ACC opponents.
- The Blue Devils took last year’s meeting in Atlanta, 73-64, behind 16 points from Tre Jones.
- Tech is looking for its first win over Duke since Jan. 9, 2010 (a 71-67 win in Atlanta), having lost 13 in a row to the Blue Devils, and its first win at Cameron Indoor Stadium since March 3, 2004, when the Jackets were on their way to the Final Four.
- The teams are scheduled to meet again Tuesday, March 2 at McCamish Pavilion.
How to Watch:
Time: 9:00pm
TV: ESPN (Rece Davis, CJon Crispin)
Stream: Watch ESPN
Radio: Blue Devil Sports (David Shumate, John Roth)
Stream: GoDuke.com; TuneIn app
