Putting its seven-game season-opening winning streak on the line, Duke battles Ohio State Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Value City Arena in Columbus. Here’s everything you need to know about the matchup.
About Duke
- Duke is back in the top spot in the AP poll for the 145th week, extending its NCAA record for most weeks ranked No. 1.
- Head coach Mike Krzyzewski has spent more weeks (127), coached more games (254) and has more wins as the AP No. 1 team (219) than any coach in NCAA history.
- The Blue Devils have won 19 of the 22 games in the Big Ten/Challenge since the event began more than two decades ago, marking the most wins and best winning percentage of teams from either conference.
- Duke, which is coming off a win over then-No. 1 Gonzaga, joins the Zags as the only teams with multiple AP top-10 wins.
- This week’s ACC Player of the Week, junior Wendell Moore Jr., is the only power conference player averaging 17.0+ points, 6.0+ rebounds, 5.0+ assists and shooting .500+ from the field (17.9/6.3/5.7/.578).
- ACC Freshman of the Week Paolo Banchero is the nation’s leading true freshman scorer at 18.3 points. He has scored 20+ points in back-to-back games, including a career-high 28 vs. The Citadel.
- Tuesday’s game matches up two of the country’s best shot blockers in Duke’s Mark Williams and Ohio State’s E.J. Liddell. Williams’ 6.42 blocks per 40 minutes leads all power conference players.
- Williams last four games: 14.5 ppg., 8.5 rpg., .692 fg% (27-of-39) with six assists, three steals and 18 blocked shots.
- Duke is forcing 15.3 turnovers, averaging 9.6 steals and owns a +92 margin in points-off-turnover scoring (137-45).
- Duke has made 33 more free throws than the opponents have attempted this season (91-58). Duke is committing 12.7 fouls per game — fewest in the ACC and sixth fewest nationally.
About Ohio State
- The Buckeyes have opened the year at 4-2 and are coming off an appearance in the championship game of Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-off last Wednesday.
- OSU has played three games this season that have all been decided with a basket in the final two seconds.
- Ohio State is 9-11 all-time vs. a No. 1 ranked team and has won seven of the last 10 meetings with the top-ranked team in the country.
- E.J. Liddell has been tremendous in the early part of the season. He has led the team in scoring in all six games and is averaging 22.5 points per game, which is second in the Big Ten through the fi rst three weeks. He also has a Big Ten-leading 23 blocks and has blocked multiple shots in fi ve of the six games.
- Liddell averaged 25.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks at the Fort Myers Tip-off and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
- Kyle Young is second on the team in scoring at 9.6 per game and tops the team at 6.4 rebounds per contest.
- Senior captain Justin Ahrens has two or more three-pointers in fi ve of the six games and is shooting nearly 50 percent from beyond the arc.
- Point guard Jamari Wheeler has a team-high 23 assists and just four turnovers on the season. He has played the second-most minutes on the team at over 27 per game.
- The Buckeyes are averaging 8.3 makes from distance per game which is fourth in the conference.
- As a team, the Buckeyes lead the conference and are in the Top 10 nationally with 36 blocked shots
Duke vs Ohio State
- Duke leads the all-time series over Ohio State, 4-3.
- Each of three meetings in the Coach K era have come in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, with Duke winning two of three.
- This will be the fourth meeting between Ohio State and Duke in the Big Ten/ACC Men’s Basketball Challenge. Duke won the first meeting in 2002 in Greensboro, N.C., and then teams split the meetings in 2011 and 2012, with each team winning on its home court.
- Against teams from the Big Ten Conference, Duke is 82-29 all-time – not counting games vs. Maryland and Rutgers prior to those teams joining the conference.
How to Watch
Time: 9:30 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN (Karl Ravech, Jay Bilas, Holly Rowe)
Stream:Watch ESPN
Radio: Blue Devils Sports Network (David Shumate, John Roth)
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