ACC Champion, No. 12 Duke (26-8) makes its 45th NCAA Tournament appearance when the Blue Devils battle 12th-seeded Oral Roberts (30-4) on Thursday in a first-round game in Orlando, Fla. A year removed from reaching the program’s 17th Final Four, the Blue Devils own the best winning percentage in NCAA Tournament history at .752 (118-39). Duke’s 118 tournament wins rank third all-time and its five championships are fourth most
Duke vs Oral Roberts
- Duke and Oral Roberts own two of the nation’s longest winning streaks at nine and 17, respectively. Only two other times has Duke entered the NCAA Tournament on longer winning streaks – 27 consecutive wins entering the 1999 tournament and 16 straight in 1986.
- This will be the first-ever meeting between Duke and Oral Roberts
About Duke
- Duke has held opponents below their season scoring average 30 times (26-4 in those games) and has out-rebounded 28 opponents (24-4 in those games).
- Over Duke’s nine-game win streak, the team has posted top-40 offensive numbers nationally in that span for field goal percentage (.492), assists (15.8) and assist/turnover ratio (1.65).
- ACC Tournament MVP Kyle Filipowski (right) averaged 19.7 points, shot .667 (24-of-36) from the field and pulled down 7.0 rebounds with two 20-point games and two double-doubles during a monster ACC Tournament. He leads all freshman nationally with 16 double-doubles.
- Junior captain Jeremy Roach, the lone returning starter from last year’s Final Four team, scored a career-high 23 points in the ACC title game (19 in second half). On pace for a career scoring year at 13.3 points, he is averaging 14.6 points and shooting .473 over the last 16 games.
- Finding continuity after a year full of injuries, Duke has played 10 consecutive games with its full complement of players and has started the same lineup in 14 straight – both its longest stretches this season. Duke is 18-1 overall in games with its full roster available.
About Oral Roberts
- Oral Roberts is the only team in the nation to go undefeated in conference play this season, and the only team to ever go undefeated in conference and tournament play and to win the tournament championship by 30-plus points.
- Max Abmas was named Summit League Player of the Year and to the league’s First Team. Abmas is averaging 22.2 points per game which is 7th in the nation.
- Two other Golden Eagles average double-digits with Issac McBride and Connor Vanover. Vanover averages 12.9 ppg and McBride averages 11.9 ppg. McBride was named to the All-Summit League Second Team.
- Vanover has totaled 109 blocks this season. He currently is second in the nation in total blocks and second in blocks per game (3.3). As a team, ORU is 5th in the nation in blocks per game (5.4). He was named to the to the All-Summit League First Team and was the league’s Defensive Player and Newcomer of the Year. He holds ORU’s single-season blocks record.
- ORU is hitting 10.8 triples per game, which puts the team 2nd in the nation. The Golden Eagles have totaled 367 three-point buckets this season.
How to Watch
Time: 7:10 p.m. (ET)
TV: CBS (Kevin Harlan, Dan Bonner, Stan Van Gundy, Lauren Shehadi)
Stream: March Madness Live
Radio: Blue Devils Sports Network (David Shumate, John Roth)
Per Release