THE OPENING TIP
- Duke wraps up the regular season with two consecutive road games, beginning Tuesday night with a crucial ACC matchup at Georgia Tech.
- The Blue Devils are just one game back in the loss column to the Yellow Jackets, who are 7-1 at McCamish Pavilion this season.
- The game tips at 8 p.m. ET on ACC Network with Rece Davis and Jon Crispin on the call. On the radio, David Shumate and John Roth have the call on the Blue Devil Sports Network from Learfield IMG College (96.5FM & 610AM in Durham).
- Duke has won 14 straight in the series versus Georgia Tech, its longest active winning streak over an ACC opponent. Tuesday is the 99th meeting in the series which favors the Blue Devils, 75-23.
- Duke is 11-5 since the start of the 2017-18 season when playing an ACC opponent in the regular season for a second time.
- Over the last seven games, Duke is averaging 19.0 assists and has assisted on 61.8 percent of its made field goals.
- On a late-season tear, sophomore sharpshooter Matthew Hurt enters the game averaging 24.0 points over his last five contests, which includes a career-high 37-point effort Saturday vs. Louisville.
- A candidate for ACC Player of the Year and Most Improved Player, Hurt joins Gonzaga’s Corey Kispert as the only players in college basketball shooting better than 56 percent from the field, better than 46 percent from three-point range and making more than six field goals per game.
- Hurt leads the ACC and is 41st nationally is scoring (19.3), while ranking second in the conference in field goal percentage (.569) and fourth in most made 3-point field goals per game (2.5). He also leads the ACC in conference-only scoring (19.3).
- A Blue Devil has been the ACC’s leading freshman scorer in six of the last seven seasons, and freshman DJ Steward is on pace to make it seven of the last eight. Steward leads all ACC freshmen at 13.1 points.
- Senior Jordan Goldwire leads the ACC in assist/turnover ratio (+2.6), is second in the league in steals (2.5 — 13th in the NCAA) and is seventh in the ACC in assists (3.9).
- Duke and Georgia Tech each rank among the ACC’s top five in scoring, assists, steals, turnover margin, assist/turnover ratio and field goal percentage.
DUKE VS. GEORGIA TECH
Tuesday’s game is the 99th meeting between Duke and Georgia Tech, with the Blue Devils leading 75-23 … In Atlanta, Duke leads 29-15, including 23-15 at McCamish Pavilion … The Blue Devils’ 14-game winning streak in the series is the team’s longest active streak against ACC opponents … The Blue Devils took last year’s meeting on the Flats, 73-64, behind 16 points from Tre Jones on Jan. 8, 2020 … When the teams met Jan. 26 at Cameron, DJ Steward scored 19 and Matthew Hurt added 17 in a 75-68 Duke victory.
ON THIS DATE
Duke is 17-10 all-time when playing on March 2, but just 1-5 in road games on this date … Duke is 8-5 in ACC games on this date … The first game in program history occurred on March 2 — a 24-10 loss to Wake Forest in Durham in 1906.
A HELPING HAND
As Duke’s young roster has gained confidence and experience, the Blue Devils are playing better team basketball as a result … Duke is second to Georgia Tech in the ACC in assists at (16.1) — 36th nationally, and is fifth in assist/turnover ratio (+1.26) — 46th nationally … Duke’s 141 assists in eight games (17.6) in the month of February led the ACC, were 14th-most nationally, and the third-most by any power conference team behind Nebraska (144) and Iowa (143) … While increasing their assists, the Blue Devils also took better care of the ball in February with a +1.47 assist/turnover ratio for the month … Over the last five games, Duke has 94 dimes and 56 turnovers (+1.68) … This season, Duke has improved both its assists per game and assist/turnover ratio each month.
HURT AVERAGING 24.0 PPG IN LAST 5 GAMES
Sophomore Matthew Hurt has scored 20+ points in four of the last five games and has averaged 24.0 over that stretch … He’s coming off a monster game against Louisville that saw the Rochester, Minn., native pour in 37 points on 15-of-21 shooting — his first career 30-point game and the most points by a Blue Devil since Grayson Allen’s 37 vs. Michigan State in the 2017 Champions Classic … He scored 20+ for three straight games for the first time in his career — 24 at NC State, 22 at Wake, 22 vs. Virginia — while shooting 14-of-19 (.736) from three and 24-of-32 (.750) from the field in that span … Over the last five games, he is 44-of-64 (.688) from the field and 18-of-30 (.600) from three-point range … He has 10 20-point games this season — 14 in his career … His 6-of-7 from downtown at NC State tied the second-best three-point accuracy for a game in Duke history, and marked the first time a Blue Devil has made 6+ threes in multiple games since both Gary Trent Jr., and Grayson Allen in 2017-18.
STEWARD LEADS ALL ACC FRESHMEN IN SCORING
A Blue Devil has been the ACC’s freshman scoring leader in six of the last seven seasons and seven of the last nine … Freshman DJ Steward is looking to keep that run going in 2020-21, as Steward is ranked first in scoring among the conference’s freshman corps at 13.1 points per game (ranked 20th overall in the ACC) … The Chicago native posted a 19-point, five-rebound, three-assist effort against Georgia Tech, with his ACC career-high of 21 coming in home wins over Wake Forest and Syracuse … In the win at Wake, he posted a 16-point, seven-rebound, three-assist, two-steal effort in 30 minutes … Against Virginia, Steward nailed a clutch corner three to tie the game at 56-56 with 5:49 to play, and his pull-up jumper pulled Duke within one (65-64) with 2:41 left … Steward has hit at least one three-pointer in 17 consecutive games — he’s also started in each of the 17 … He has scored in double figures 15 times this season, including in 14 of the last 17 games.
GOLDWIRE AMONG NCAA STEAL LEADERS
Senior Jordan Goldwire leads the ACC in assist/turnover ratio this season (+2.60), while ranking second in steals (2.45) and seventh in assists (3.9). He is 13th nationally in steals per game … A tenacious on-ball defender that has come off the bench nine times this season (eight in ACC play), Goldwire has 2+ steals in 18 of 20 games this season and his 18 multi-steal games are tied for second-most in the NCAA … Only Georgia Tech senior Jose Alvarado (114) has more steals over the last two seasons than Goldwire’s 96 … At 2.45 steals per game this season, Goldwire is on pace for a top-five steals per game season in Duke history … His career-high five steals came against Winthrop last year and he has recorded four steals four times this season … Not just known for his defense, Goldwire has recorded 4+ assists in seven consecutive games with 30 assists and just 12 turnovers (+2.5) in that span … After nine turnovers over the first four games this season, Goldwire has just 21 turnovers over the last 16 games. His assist/turnover ratio over the last 16 games is +3.00.
MOORE WAYS THAN ONE
Sophomore Wendell Moore Jr., came off the bench at Pitt on Jan. 19, giving Duke 31 minutes and hitting 5-of-10 from the field, including a career-high three made three-pointers, for 15 points … He has started the 11 games since Pitt, and making contributions all over the box score for the Blue Devils … Scoring: went for 24 and 10 — his second career double-double versus Notre Dame to cap a three-game stretch that saw him average 19.0 points … Rebounds: is Duke’s second-leading rebounder in ACC play (5.1), and has 4+ rebounds in 15 of the last 16 games … Assists: Set a then-career-high six assists at NC State and followed that with a career-high seven vs. Virginia … Has 3+ assists in 11 of the last 12 games and is averaging 3.6 dimes over that span.
DUKE AWAY FROM CAMERON
In the Coach K era, Duke is 263-150 (.636) in true road games and 275-77 (.781) in neutral site games, for a combined mark of 538-227 (.704) in all games outside of Cameron Indoor Stadium … In ACC regular season play, Duke is 192-125 (.605) away from home under Coach K. The Blue Devils are 136-72 (.656) in ACC road games since the 1996-97 season … In ACC Tournament play, Duke’s .696 winning percentage and 103 wins each lead the conference … Coach K’s 192 ACC road wins are a conference record … Coach K has also won 16 road games against AP top five teams, the most in the history of the AP poll.
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