Tag: Duke basketball

Where are the Duke Blue Devils in the ESPN BPI rankings after their George Mason win?

Check out where the Duke Blue Devils ended up in the ESPN Basketball Power Index after Tuesday’s win over George Mason.

The Duke Blue Devils extended their win streak to five on Tuesday night, but a 21-point victory over the George Mason Patriots wasn’t enough to keep them in place in the ESPN Basketball Power Index.

The Blue Devils dropped one spot to third in the ESPN analytics on Wednesday, a likely byproduct of them failing to score 30 first-half points for the second straight game. Duke has held three of its last five opponents below 50 points, failing to surrender more than 78 in a game this season, but the offense has only mustered 74.0 points per game during the win streak. Freshman sensation [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] scored 24 points, his fifth 20-point outing of the season, but Duke shot just 37.5% as a team.

The Auburn Tigers vaulted up three spots to first, the same spot they occupy in the KenPom rankings, after their 41-point win over Georgia State. The Houston Cougars still sit second on ESPN’s board despite a trio of early losses.

The Blue Devils are projected to win 26.5 games during the regular season, meaning ESPN thinks Duke could close the year on a 17-3 or even 18-2 run.

Where does Duke basketball sit in the KenPom rankings after the George Mason win?

Check out where the Duke Blue Devils stand on the KenPom efficiency rankings after their Tuesday win over George Mason.

The Duke Blue Devils won their fifth straight game on Tuesday night, a 68-47 victory over the George Mason Patriots, to hold tight to their No. 3 spot in the KenPom rankings.

The Duke defense held George Mason to 29.4% from the field and 11.8% from 3-point range, its second straight game allowing fewer than 50 points. The Blue Devils haven’t allowed more than 78 points in a game this season, and they sit second in the KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency ranking with 88.5 points allowed per 100 possessions.

While the defense thrived, the offensive side of the ball continued to struggle. Duke scored fewer than 30 points before halftime for the second straight game, and the Blue Devils made 37.5% of their shots and 33.3% of their threes. They’re still the 14th-ranked offense in the KenPom database, making them one of five teams in the top 15 on both ends.

Freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] finished with 24 points, 17 of which came after halftime, for his fifth 20-point performance of the season. The 17-year-old forward sits behind only Auburn Tigers forward Johni Broome on the KenPom Player of the Year board.

The North Carolina Tar Heels lost their fifth game of the year on Tuesday, tumbling down to 28th in the rankings. Duke’s next opponent, the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, currently sits 111th with a 4-6 record.

Former Duke basketball star Gary Trent Jr. wins NBA Cup with Milwaukee Bucks

A former Duke basketball player helped the Milwaukee Bucks win the NBA Cup on Tuesday night.

Former Duke basketball star Gary Trent Jr. and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Cup Championship on Tuesday night, a 97-81 victory in the second edition of the in-season tournament.

Trent, a second-round draft pick from 2018, came off the bench to score 13 points after he made three of his six 3-point attempts. Milwaukee led by a single point after two quarters, but a 26-14 advantage in the third helped build a comfortable lead. Two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo added to his awards case with 26 points, 19 rebounds, and 10 assists in the win.

The former Blue Devil has averaged 9.1 points and 2.0 rebounds while shooting 41.1% from the field and 39.3% from distance through 24 games this season. He’s averaged at least 13 points per game in each of the previous four campaigns.

Trent only spent one season in Durham alongside Marvin Bagley III and Grayson Allen. He averaged 14.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 steals while the Blue Devils reached the Elite Eight.

The best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s win over George Mason

Check out the best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s win over the George Mason Patriots.

For the last three weeks, the Duke men’s basketball team has cruised along and taken care of business against every opponent in its way.

The Blue Devils quieted the George Mason offense for a 68-47 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night, the team’s fifth straight win to reach 9-2 for the season. The offense as a whole struggled to find its mark, shooting just 37.5% from the field, but the Duke defense continues to make sure that any slow stretches on the other end of the floor don’t matter.

Freshman sensation [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] scored six points in the first three minutes of the second half to jumpstart a 15-4 run after the break, and the first-year forward ended up with 24 points for his fifth 20-point game of the year.

Check out the best Duke basketball photos from Tuesday’s win below.

How many points did Cooper Flagg score against George Mason?

Here’s how Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg performed against George Mason on Tuesday night.

The Duke Blue Devils extended their current win streak to five on Tuesday night thanks to yet another 20-point performance from freshman sensation [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag].

George Mason, the latest team to play at Cameron Indoor Stadium, brought one of the nation’s most efficient defenses to Durham, and Flagg initially struggled to get the ball through the hoop. The first-year forward only notched seven points in the first 20 minutes, a representative total for the 25-16 slugfest.

It’s hard to hold the best prospect in the nation in check for a complete game, however, and Flagg started to work his way toward the basket with ease once play resumed. He stacked six points in the first three minutes of the second half, powering a 15-4 run that helped give Duke an insurmountable lead.

Here’s a recap of Flagg’s fifth 20-point game of the season.

Cooper Flagg points scored vs. George Mason:

Flagg finished with 24 points on Tuesday, making five of his nine shots after halftime to finish 7/20 (35.0%) for the night. He tacked on nine rebounds, four assists, three steals, and a block for another well-rounded stat sheet.

Did Duke win?

Yes, the Blue Devils won 68-47 thanks to their 43 points after halftime. The Blue Devils held George Mason to 29.4% from the floor and generated 13 turnovers to hold the Patriots to such a modest total.

Cooper Flagg’s next game:

The Duke Blue Devils will return to the court on Saturday with a road game against Georgia Tech, their second ACC game of the season.

Duke basketball notches fifth straight win with defensive masterpiece against George Mason

The Duke Blue Devils won a battle of elite defenses at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday night with a 68-47 triumph over George Mason.

The Duke men’s basketball team won its fifth straight game on Tuesday night by following the usual formula, relying upon freshman superstar [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and some stifling second-half defense for a 68-47 victory over George Mason.

Duke and George Mason both entered Tuesday’s battle within the top six in effective field goal percentage allowed, and the two teams certainly lived up to the defensive billing in the opening half.

The Blue Devils, who have struggled on offense in the opening minutes for most of the season, knocked down two 3-pointers in the first three minutes for an early 6-0 lead before missing 13 of their next 14 shots from the floor. The home team endured multiple four-minute scoring droughts before the break, only chopping them up with a five-for-seven run near the middle of the period.

However, while the Patriots excel at forcing tough shots from the floor, they struggle to end possessions. George Mason ranked outside the top 260 in offensive rebounding rate allowed, per KenPom’s metrics, and the Blue Devils certainly overpowered them on the glass.

Flagg came down with five second-chance possessions in the first eight minutes, including one sequence when he tipped three offensive boards to himself in a row. Duke returned to the locker room with eight offensive rebounds in the first half, helping the Blue Devils build a 25-16 lead despite going 9/33 (27.3%) from the field and 4/15 (26.7%) from behind the arc.

Flagg spent most of the first half settling for short floaters rather than muscling his way to the basket, and most of them found iron instead of nylon. The first-year forward only made two of his 11 shots in the first 20 minutes, a seven-point opening half, but he quickly course-corrected after the short break.

The 6-foot-9 forward shouldered his way to the rim over and over again in the opening minutes of the second, drawing a foul on one possession and rolling a layup in off the rim on another. Add in a jumper, and Flagg notched six points in the first three minutes after the half.

The run seemed contagious for his teammates with fellow freshman [autotag]Kon Knueppel[/autotag] getting to the glass for a layup and junior [autotag]Tyrese Proctor[/autotag] knocking down his second 3-pointer for a run of four straight makes.

When forward Maliq Brown slammed down a two-handed dunk with 14:36 left on the clock, Duke had opened up a 20-point lead thanks to a 15-4 run to open the latter period.

The remaining time passed slowly, but Isaiah Evans came off the bench for a trio of 3-pointers to raise the team percentage to 33.3% before the end of the night. Flagg finished with 24 points thanks to a decisive second half, his fifth 20-point game of the season, and he added nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

George Mason made five straight shots from the floor in the final eight minutes, but the Patriots still only managed to connect on 20 of their 68 (29.4%) looks for the game.

The Blue Devils, now 9-2 for the season, will now hit the road for a Saturday afternoon game against Georgia Tech. Duke already won its first ACC game of the season against Louisville on December 8, a 76-65 comeback away from Durham.

Is Maliq Brown playing today? Injury updates for the Duke forward

Here are the latest updates on Duke forward Maliq Brown, who was battling a toe injury ahead of Tuesday’s game vs George Mason.

The Duke Blue Devils won their fourth straight game last week, a 72-46 triumph over Incarnate Word, but they did so without forward [autotag]Maliq Brown[/autotag].

The Syracuse transfer had been one of Duke’s best defenders through the first nine games, averaging 5.9 rebounds and a team-leading 2.1 steals, and he helped hold Auburn Tigers star Johni Broome to five first-half points in the Blue Devils’ best win of the season thus far.

However, before last week’s game against the Cardinals, Duke announced that Brown would be held out with a toe injury. The Blue Devils labeled him day-to-day with the injury, and with a week-long break before the next game, it seemed logical to assume he wouldn’t miss much time.

The team affirmed that belief with a positive update on Brown’s status ahead of Tuesday’s game against George Mason.

Maliq Brown injury update

The Blue Devils confirmed ahead of Tuesday’s game that Brown would play against the Patriots. Barring any setbacks, the toe injury will keep him out of a single game.

Duke forward depth chart

Freshmen centers [autotag]Khaman Maluach[/autotag] and Patrick Ngongba II played a larger role in last week’s win over Incarnate Word in Brown’s absence, but the Syracuse transfer should spell them both against George Mason. Maluach has started every game in the paint, but Brown averages more minutes per night than the 7-footer, a role that should resume with his return to the lineup.

Duke basketball misses out on a No. 1 seed in updated ESPN Bracketology

The Duke Blue Devils still haven’t worked their way back into a No. 1 seed in ESPN’s projected bracket despite their four-game win streak.

The Duke Blue Devils have won four straight games, including their home victory over the Auburn Tigers to start the month of December, but ESPN bracket expert Joe Lunardi still needs to see more to put them atop a region.

In his updated Bracketology projection on Tuesday, Lunardi put [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates as the No. 2 seed in the Midwest region.

Two early losses put a dent in Duke’s chances for a top seed, but considering that they came against the Kentucky Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks, neither will be disqualifying. Auburn is Lunardi’s top overall seed, after all, so that win will carry plenty of weight come decision time.

The Tennessee Volunteers slid into the top spot in the Midwest, joining Auburn, Kentucky, and the Iowa State Wildcats on the opening line. Duke’s projected region also included 3-seed Texas A&M, 4-seed Purdue, and 6-seed Illinois. The Blue Devils drew Norfolk State for the opening round with either Dayton or Penn State waiting for them if they advance.

Only three other ACC teams made Lunardi’s full tournament field: the Clemson Tigers (No. 6, East), Pittsburgh Panthers (No. 7, South), and North Carolina Tar Heels (No. 9, South).

Duke and George Mason bring two of the nation’s best shooting defenses to Tuesday’s game

The Duke Blue Devils play George Mason on Tuesday, and both teams are among the best in the country in this major defensive stat.

The Duke Blue Devils seek their fifth straight victory on Tuesday night when they host the George Mason Patriots, but [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates will need to win a defensive battle.

The Blue Devils haven’t allowed an opponent to score more than 78 points through their first 10 games, and they’ve held teams to 29.3% from behind the 3-point line. That defensive prowess adds up to a 42.4% effective field goal percentage allowed, the sixth-best mark in the nation according to KenPom’s database.

The Patriots happen to be one of the five teams above them.

George Mason, through its first 10 games, has held its opponents to a 41.8% eFG%, joining the Houston Cougars, Tennessee Volunteers, and Illinois Fighting Illini as the only teams below 42%. The Patriots have allowed 57.4 points per game during their current five-game win streak, and they’ve let opponents connect on just 27.5% of their 3-point attempts.

While the Duke offense has needed some time to find its rhythm recently, the Blue Devils still outrank their opponents on that side of the ball. Duke has averaged 79.7 points per game to George Mason’s 78.7 despite a much harder schedule, but each bucket will be earned at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

The game, which will air on ACC Network, tips off at 7:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Why does George Mason’s Darius Maddox sound familiar to Duke basketball fans?

Duke basketball fans with good memories (and long grudges) might recognize George Mason’s leading scorer, a former ACC transfer.

Darius Maddox didn’t join the George Mason program until the 2023-24 season, and the Blue Devils haven’t faced the Patriots since 2006. So why does the name sound familiar?

Maddox spent three seasons with the Virginia Tech Hokies before his time in Fairfax, and his old program actually beat Duke three times in four games during his time there.

The 6-foot-5 guard admittedly didn’t play a major role in most of those games, but his best performance came in the most impactful Virginia Tech victory. Maddox came off the bench for six points and five rebounds in the Hokies’ 82-67 upset of the Blue Devils in the 2022 ACC Tournament final.

The win punched Virginia Tech’s ticket to the NCAA Tournament, but more importantly, it denied legendary Duke coach [autotag]Mike Krzyzewski[/autotag] a walk-off conference title in his final season. It served as the middle act in a trio of storybook-ending losses that season, sandwiched between losses to the North Carolina Tar Heels in Coach K’s final home game and in the Final Four.

Maddox averaged 14.0 points in his first season with the Patriots last year, and he’s put together 14.9 points to lead the team so far in 2024-25. He’s dropped a season-high 20 in three different games, including a road loss to Marquette on November 8.