No. 2 Duke caps a four-game holiday home stand when it welcomes Virginia Tech to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the Blue Devils’ ACC opener Wednesday night.
Duke is 50-18 all-time in ACC openers, including 31-10 in ACC openers under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils have won three straight and five of their last seven ACC lid lifters.
About Duke
- Duke leads the ACC in field goal percentage (.491, ranked 17th in the NCAA), scoring margin (+21.7, 7th), scoring offense (86.1, 6th), blocked shots (5.2, 34th) and fewest personal fouls (13.5, 19th).
- One of the nation’s best ball-handling teams, Duke ranks third in the NCAA in assist/turnover ratio (+2.01), seventh in fewest turnovers (9.2), ninth in turnover margin (+6.5) and ninth in assists (18.5).
- Duke is ranked sixth in offensive efficiency and 18th in defensive efficiency by KenPom. Opponents are scoring just 9.9 percent of their points at the free throw — second fewest allowed in the country. Duke is fourth nationally in offensive turnover percentage (12.7) and
ranked 14th in effective field goal percentage (56.0)
- Junior Wendell Moore Jr., is the nation’s only power conference player — and one of two in D-I — averaging 16.0+ points, 5.0+ rebounds, 5.0+ assists and shooting .500+ from the field (16.9/5.6/5.1/.581). Moore’s six 10-5-5 games are tied for the NCAA lead and the most among power conference players. Moore leads the ACC in assists, is second in assist/turnover ratio (+2.83), sixth in scoring, third in field goal pct. and 18th in rebounds.
- Trevor Keels is the third different Blue Devil to be named ACC Freshman of the Week this season, earning the honor this week after averaging 14.7 points and shooting .522 from the field in Duke’s three victories in five days last week. Keels’ 2.0 steals per game lead the team and rank fourth in the ACC, while his +2.5 assist/turnover ratio is fourth in the league. He is the only Blue Devil with a three-pointer in every game this season.
- Sophomore Mark Williams leads the ACC and is ranked 13th in the NCAA with 3.0 blocked shots per game. Williams has swatted multiple shots nine times this season and 19 times in 34 career games.
- Freshman AJ Griffin is averaging 11.7 points over Duke’s last three games and shooting .632 from the field, .545 from three-point range with 11 rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers in that stretch.
About Virginia Tech
- Virginia Tech is 8-4 overall and opened its ACC schedule with an 80-61 loss to Wake Forest on Dec. 4 in Blacksburg.
- The battle-tested Hokies faced Memphis, Xavier, Maryland, Dayton and St. Bonaventure during their non-conference schedule and are coming off an 86-49 rout of the Bonnies on Dec. 17 in Charlotte.
- Their ninth-ranked defense allows just 56.5 points per game. Opponents are shooting .396 from the field and just .255 from three-point range (No. 8 nationally).
- The Hokies shoot at a 40 percent clip from long range, which ranks ninth in the country.
- Tech won each of its first five games by an average of 28 points per game. Each game was decided by at least 20 points.
- Senior Keve Alluma, who has a pair of double-doubles this season, leads the team in scoring at 14.2 points. Aluma has reached double-figure scoring in seven straight games. He’s at least tied for leading scorer honors in four of the last five games.
- Grad student Justyn Mutts pulls down a team-best 7.4 rebounds per game.
- Hunter Cattoor, who has scored in double figures in five of the last six games, dialed up a career-high 21 points on 6-for-7 shooting to earn MVP honors at the Basketball Hall of
Fame Shootout vs. St. Bonaventure. He did not miss a shot from three (5-5).
- Tech is coming off a seasonhigh 13 3-pointers made vs. the Bonnies. The Hokies top the ACC with their nine threes made per game.
Duke vs Virginia Tech
- Wednesday’s game is the 62nd meeting between Duke and Virginia Tech, with the Blue Devils leading 50-11.
- In Durham, Duke leads the series 21-1 and has won eight consecutive. The Hokies’ lone win at Cameron Indoor came in overtime in the ACC opener on Jan. 6, 2007 (69-67).
- The Hokies won the lone meeting last season, 74-67, in Blacksburg. The win snapped a three-game winning streak by the Blue Devils.
- A freshman has led Duke in scoring in each of the last five games against Virgina Tech, including Jeremy Roach’s career-high 22 points last season in Blacksburg on 6-of-14 shooting.
- Third-year head coach Mike Young spent the previous 17 years as head coach at Wofford, where he was 299-244 and took the Terriers to the NCAA Tournament five times.
- Young faced Duke just once in his time at Wofford — an 84-55 Blue Devil win at Cameron Indoor on Dec. 31, 2014.
How to Watch
Time: 9:00 p.m. (ET)
TV: ESPN2 (Dave O’Brien, Jay Bilas)
Stream: Watch ESPN
Radio: Blue Devils Sports Network (David Shumate, John Roth)
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