In the Sweet 16 for the 28th time as a program, No. 2 Duke faces No. 3 Texas Tech on Thursday night in San Francisco, Calif., in the semifinal of the NCAA Tournament West Regional. Duke’s 28 Sweet 16’s are second-most in NCAA history, while the 26 trips by head coach Mike Krzyzewski extend his NCAA record. The Blue Devils and Red Raiders have never matched up in the NCAA Tournament and are meeting for just the second time in history. A win puts Duke in the Elite Eight for the 23rd time – the 17th time under Coach K to extend his NCAA record — and gives Coach K his 100th career NCAA Tournament victory.
About Duke:
- The Blue Devils own the best winning percentage in NCAA Tournament history at .753 (116-38), while the program’s 116 wins rank third and five championships are fourth most.
- The coach with the most wins in NCAA Tournament history (99-30), Coach K is in his NCAA-record 36th tournament and his .767 tourney win percentage is second to only John Wooden (.825).
- Sophomore Jeremy Roach is the team’s third leading scorer this postseason (ACC and NCAA Tournament) at 12.8 points, while shooting .488 from the field. He scored 15 in the Michigan State win, including 13 in the second half.
- A second-team consensus All-American and the ACC Freshman of the Year, Paolo Banchero is the program’s 75th All-American (52nd under Coach K). He is the 31st consensus pick under Coach K.
- In the postseason, Banchero is averaging team highs in points (16.8), rebounds (8.6) and steals (1.4), to go with 20 assists and a .586 field goal percentage. He has three double-doubles in the postseason.
- Sophomore Mark Williams’ .714 field goal percentage is second on Duke’s single-season list. He would lead the nation, but falls just short of the minimum five field goals per game to qualify (4.9).
- Williams is the nation’s only player shooting .700+ from the field and .700+ free throws (min. 150 FG). Since at least 1992-93, only one other player in college basketball has posted a similar statline.
- Wendell Moore is one of only two players nationally – and the only power conference player – shooting .500+ from the field, .400+ from three-point range and averaging 5.0+ rebounds and 4.0+ assists.
- The captain has stepped up this postseason, averaging 16.4 points on .500 from the field, .429 from three-point range and .950 (19-of-20) from the free throw line in both the ACC and NCAA Tournaments
- Duke has trailed or been tied in the final five minutes of three postseason wins this season — trailed Syracuse, 79-78, with 3:32 remaining in the ACC quarterfinals, was tied with Miami, 65-65, with five minutes left in the ACC semifinals and trailed Michigan State, 70-65, with five minutes remaining in the NCAA second round.
- Duke closed those games on combined runs of 45-17, including scoring the final 10 points of the Syracuse game, and out-scoring Michigan State, 20-6.
- The backcourt combination of sophomore Jeremy Roach (11 points), freshman Trevor Keels (10) and junior Wendell Moore Jr. (10) accounted for 70 percent of Duke’s points in those runs, while freshman Paolo Banchero added seven points.
About Texas Tech:
- The Tech roster of 14 is made up of five returners, six NCAA Division I transfers, one junior college transfer, a walk-on who joined at midterm and one high school signee.
- An experienced team, the Red Raiders have four super seniors in Davion Warren, Bryson Williams, Marcus Santos-Silva and Adonis Arms and five players who are currently in graduate school in Kevin Obanor, Warren, Williams, Santos-Silva and Arms.
- The program has five players who have played over 100 games in their career in Obanor (122), Warren (155), Williams (157), Santos-Silva (162) and Arms (139).
- Texas Tech remains at No. 1 in Kenpom.com defensive efficiency in a season where the Red Raiders are limiting opponents to only 60.2 points per game, are holding teams to 38.2 percent shooting and are forcing 15.9 turnovers per game.
- The top defensive unit in the nation, the 97 points by the Red Raiders against Montana State are the most points scored in any tournament game this season to this point.
- Davion Warren leads the team with 53 steals, while Marcus Santos-Silva has 28 blocks for the Red Raiders who have limited 16 opponents under 60 points and five under 50 this season.
- Tech is an experienced team with five players having scored over 1,000 points in their careers with Bryson Williams leading the way with 2,128 followed by Davion Warren (1,944), Adonis Arms (1,683), Kevin Obanor (1,666) and Marcus Santos-Silva (1,240).
- Terrence Shannon, who has played all three of his collegiate seasons at Tech, has 907 points for the most in a Red Raider uniform on this year’s team.
- Mark Adams has been named the Associated Press Big 12 Coach of the Year and is a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year Award. He has already established the best record for a first-year Tech head coach with the 27-9 mark going into the Sweet 16.
- The Red Raiders are now 10-3 over the past four tournaments which is the second most wins nationally with Gonzaga and Michigan tied for the most with 12.
- Tech went on a 10-1 run in the final two minutes to take a 59-53 win over Notre Dame on Sunday in the second round of the tournament. Obanor led the Red Raiders with his 15-point, 15-rebound double-double while McCullar and Williams had 14 points each.
Duke vs Texas Tech:
- Duke and Texas Tech have met just once previously, with the Blue Devils winning a defensive slugfest at Madison Square Garden, 69-58, on Dec. 20, 2018.
- Senior Joey Baker is only remaining Blue Devil from that season.
- Duke is 40-12 overall versus teams from the Big XII Conference, including 5-2 in the NCAA Tournament.
Game Info:
Time: time 9:40 p.m. (ET)
TV: CBS (Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, Tracy Wolfson)
Stream: NCAA.com
Radio: Blue Devils Sports Network (David Shumate, John Roth)
Per Release
