Duke Meets Baylor in Second Round of NCAA Tournament

The Opening Tip

No. 1-seed Duke will meet nine-seed Baylor in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Sunday, March 23. The Blue Devils (31-3) and Bears (20-14), tip off at 2:40 p.m., on CBS.
Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill and Tracy Wolfson will call the action on CBS. David Shumate and John Roth team up for the broadcast on the Blue Devil Sports Network.
Duke owns the second-highest net rating (38.30) in the history of KenPom (since 1996-97 season). Only the 1998-99 Duke Blue Devils have achieved a higher net rating (43.01).
This is Duke's 47th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, with records of 123-41 (.750) overall, 55-10 (.846) as a No. 1 seed and a 60-17 (.779) in the East Region.
The Blue Devils have won 28 of their last 29 games since late November, including the nation's second-longest current win streak at 12 consecutive victories.
Duke leads the nation in scoring margin (+21.5) and ranks fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.80), fifth in effective field goal percentage (.575), fifth in field goal percentage defense (.384), sixth in scoring defense (61.5), 10th in rebound margin (+8.0), 11th in turnovers per game (9.4), 12th in scoring offense (83.0), 14th in field goal percentage (.488), 19th in assists per game (16.9), 20th in three-point percentage (.377), 21st in three-pointers per game (10.2) and 24th in rebounds per game (38.8) - all top marks in the ACC.
Duke leads the ACC in scoring offense (83.0) and scoring defense (61.5), and could become the first team in ACC history to lead the conference in both categories.
Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-three in both offensive (1st) and defensive (3rd) raw efficiency, according to KenPom.
Duke is the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (83.0) and hold its opponents to fewer than 62 points per game (61.5).
Duke's 44-point victory on Friday is the Blue Devils' seventh win by 40+ points in the NCAA Tournament, the most by any school in the history of the event.
On Friday, Duke distributed 21 assists with just two turnovers, a 10.5 assist-turnover ratio, which is the best ratio in program history.
Jon Scheyer is the first coach in conference history to win two ACC Tournament championships in his first three seasons as a head coach.
Junior guard Tyrese Proctor has made a career-high six three-pointers in each of the last two games (Louisville, Mount St. Mary's), shooting 12-of-22 (.545) from distance.

Opponent Notes

The Blue Devils last played Baylor on Dec. 20, 2023, defeating the No. 10 Bears, 78-70, inside Madison Square Garden.
Jeremy Roach, who transferred from Duke to Baylor following the 2023-24 season, tallied 18 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals for the Blue Devils in the 2023 victory.
In the first series meeting, Duke defeated the Bears, 78-71, in the NCAA regional finals on March 28, 2010, in Houston, as the Blue Devils advanced to their 15th Final Four to eventually claim their fourth national championship title.
In that contest, then senior guard and current Duke head coach Jon Scheyer drained five 3-pointers and made all five free throws for 20 points, to go along with five rebounds, four assists and a steal, playing all 40 minutes of the regional final.
Norchad Omier (6-7, forward) ranks third in the nation and leads the Big 12 with 22 double-doubles this season, averaging team highs of 15.8 points and 10.9 rebounds per game.
Freshman VJ Edgecombe averages 15.0 points per game.
Head coach Scott Drew, now in his 22nd season at Baylor, led the Bears to the 2021 national championship.

Duke in the NCAA Tournament

Head coach Jon Scheyer leads Duke into the tournament for the third straight season and has steered the Blue Devils to a top-five seed in each of his first three seasons at the helm of the program.
2025 marks the first one seed for the Blue Devils under Scheyer and is the 15th time in program history that Duke has been tapped as a one seed.
Duke is 123-41 (.750) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, marking the best winning percentage in tournament history by a team with a minimum of 20 games played.
Duke's 123 wins are third-most in the event's history.
The Blue Devils have now been selected to the East Region 20 times – last in 2023 – and hold a 60-17 (.779) record when playing out of the East.
Duke is 55-10 (.846) all-time as a No. 1 seed, including a 5-0 record versus No. 9 seeds.
Duke owns a record of 35-6 (.854) in NCAA Tournament games played in the state of North Carolina.
The winner of Sunday's second-round game advances to the East Regional semifinal, which will be played at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, on March 27.

Last Time Out

No. 1-seed Duke began the 2025 NCAA Tournament with a 93-49 victory over Mount St. Mary's on Friday, March 21, at the Lenovo Center.
Tyrese Proctor led the Blue Devils (32-3) with 19 points, while three others finished in double-figures - Cooper Flagg (14), Caleb Foster (12) and Khaman Maluach (11).
Patrick Ngongba II grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, setting a new career high, while Flagg finished one board behind his teammate, with seven caroms. As a team, Duke dished 21 assists, led by Proctor's five, while only committing two turnovers, to finish the game with a 10.5 assist-turnover ratio - the best in program history.
On defense, the Blue Devils limited the Mountaineers to just 19-of-63 (.302) shooting, after Mount St. Mary's entered the contest averaging 44.6 percent from the field.
Duke began its 47th NCAA Tournament on Friday and is now 123-41 (.750) all-time, marking the best winning percentage in tournament history by a team with a minimum of 20 games played.
With the win, Duke improved to 33-3 (.917) in the NCAA Tournament first round, 60-17 (.779) when playing in the East Region and to 15-0 when playing against a No. 16-seed.
The game was the Blue Devils' 41st NCAA Tournament game played in the state of North Carolina, improving to a record of 35-6 (.854).
The 44-point margin of victory is the Blue Devils' seventh win by 40+ points in the NCAA Tournament, the most by any school in the history of the event.
Duke picked up its 32nd win of the season, improving to 32-3 overall for the campaign. Since the start of the 2000 season, Duke has now registered seven campaigns with at least 32 wins.
The Blue Devils ended the game with 21 assists and just two turnovers, a 10.5 assist-turnover ratio. The 10.5 ratio sets a new program record, surpassing an 8.3 ratio that Duke finished with against The Citadel on Nov. 22, 2021.
Duke went on a 19-0 scoring burst in the second half, spanning 7:04 of game clock, to build its lead from 24 (65-41) to 43 (84-41). The 19 unanswered points matched the Blue Devils' longest scoring run of the season – Duke also scored 19 straight against NC State on Jan. 27.
Duke won the rebounding battle, 44-38, and has finished with a positive margin on the glass in all but seven games this season.
Duke's defense limited the Mountaineers to 49 points, 21.7 below their season average of 70.7 points per game. The 49 points was the lowest point total for Mount St. Mary's this season.
The Blue Devils also held Mount St. Mary's to 0.71 points per possession, matching its season low (at Georgetown, Nov. 20).
Duke's offense finished with 1.39 points per possession, surpassing Quinnipiac's 1.34 (Jan. 18), as the highest output by a Mountaineer opponent this season.
Duke has now connected on at least one 3-pointer in 1,260 straight games, the longest streak nationally.
Proctor matched his career high for made three-pointers, sinking six on Saturday. Proctor had previously set a new career high in Duke's last game against Louisville, going 6-of-14 (.429) against the Cardinals in the championship game of the ACC Tournament.
Proctor shot 6-of-8 (.750) from deep against the Mountaineers and is 12-of-22 (.545) from beyond the arc in Duke's last two games.
The junior also contributed a team-best five assists, three boards and a steal.
Flagg returned from a two-game absence due to an ankle injury and was included in the starting lineup. The freshman played a total of 22 minutes, posting 14 points on 6-of-12 (.500) shooting, while also grabbing seven rebounds, dishing four assists and blocking two shots.
Foster scored 12 points on 4-of-5 (.800) shooting, fueled by 3-of-4 (.750) from beyond the arc.
Maluach rounded out Duke's double-digit scoring, finishing the contest with 11 points on a perfect 5-for-5 from the field. Maluach slammed home three dunks and added a first-half three-pointer, his fourth of the season.
Ngongba set a new career high for rebounds with eight, while also scoring nine points on 4-of-5 (.800) shooting and rejecting three shot attempts.

Scheyer Breaks ACC Record for Most Victories in First Three Seasons

Duke head coach Jon Scheyer has achieved a career record of 86-21 after Saturday's ACC championship game victory for a winning percentage of .804.
Scheyer's 86 victories exceed the standard set by Bill Guthridge (80, North Carolina, 1997-2000) for the most wins by an ACC coach in their first three seasons.
Scheyer became the first coach in conference history to win two ACC Tournament championships in his first three seasons as a head coach.

Duke Continues to Rank Among Nation's Top Defenses

Duke is once again one of the top defenses in the country.
KenPom ranks the Blue Devils as the third-best defense in the nation with a raw defense efficiency rating of 92.4. (as of March 22)
This season, Duke ranks fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.384) and sixth in scoring defense (61.5) - both top marks in the ACC.
The 2024-25 Blue Devils are the first Duke team since the 1948-49 season to hold every regular-season opponent to fewer than 80 points.
Based on EvanMiya's Defensive Bayesian Performance Rating, Duke has six of the top 16 defenders in the ACC: Cooper Flagg (1st), Maliq Brown (3rd), Kon Knueppel (6th), Sion James (8th), Khaman Maluach (9th) and Tyrese Proctor (16th). Flagg ranks as the second-best defender in the nation with a rating of 4.64.
Duke opponents have committed 33 shot clock violations on the season, compared to just eight by the Blue Devils.
Last season, the 2023-24 Blue Devils finished 16th in the nation in defense efficiency (95.2), and ranked 28th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 66.3 points per game.
In 2022-23, Jon Scheyer's first season as head coach, Duke finished the season 16th in the nation in defense efficiency (93.9), and ranked 24th in three-point percentage defense (.305), 27th in field goal percentage defense (.406) and 30th in scoring defense (63.6).

Blue Devils Evolve into One of the Nation's Top Offenses

While Duke established itself as an imposing defensive unit early in the season, the Blue Devils have evolved into one of the top-rated offenses in the country.
The Blue Devils are No. 1 on KenPom's raw offensive efficiency list (124.5), followed by Gonzaga (121.4) and Florida (121.1).
Duke also owns the top-rated offense by EvanMiya with an offensive performance rating of 20.9, ahead of Alabama (19.6) and Florida (18.9). (as of March 22)
Duke ranks fourth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.80), fifth in effective field goal percentage (.575), 14th in field goal percentage (.488) and 19th in assists per game (16.9) - all top marks in the ACC.
In the last seven regular-season games (wins over Stanford, Virginia, Illinois, Miami, Florida State, Wake Forest and North Carolina), Duke averaged 95.4 points per contest, while shooting 240-of-452 (53.1%) from the field, 81-of-188 (43.1%) from three-point land and 107-of-128 (83.6%) from the free-throw line.
Against Stanford, Duke averaged 1.68 points per possession, the fourth-highest efficiency against a high-major opponent in the KenPom database (since 1996-97), then 1.31 PPP at Virginia and 1.51 PPP versus Illinois. The offensive rating of 147 during those three games is the best three-game stretch against high-major opponents in KenPom history, topping the previous high of 140 by North Carolina in 2016. (The Athletic)

Flagg Collecting Accolades and Making History

Duke freshman Cooper Flagg was announced as the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Rookie of the Year, while being named to the All-ACC First Team, ACC All-Defensive Team and ACC All-Rookie Team.
Flagg is a consensus First Team All-American, being named to the All-America First Team by Sporting News, Associated Press (AP), National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA).
The Newport, Maine native is the first consensus First Team All-America selection for Duke since RJ Barrett and Zion Williamson accomplished the feat in 2019.
Flagg is the 22nd all-time Duke player to be named a consensus First Team All-American and his selection is the 25th total in program history - which leads college basketball in the modern era (since 1949). As a freshman, Flagg is the 10th Blue Devil rookie to garner All-America honors.
Flagg was a unanimous first-team selections both to the AP and Sporting News All-America lists.
Flagg collected 18 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals in the season-opener against Maine to become the first freshman in Duke history to have at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists and three steals in their debut.
Flagg was the first Duke player in the last 40 years to amass 50+ points, 25+ rebounds and 10+ assists in his first three career games, per ESPN.
Flagg was voted as the ACC Men's Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week on Nov. 25, becoming the first player to earn both honors in the same week since Feb. 3, 2020, when Duke's Vernon Carey, Jr., accomplished the same feat.
Flagg became the only 17-year-old in NCAA history to register multiple 20-point double-doubles, according to Real Sports.
In Duke's four top-25 matchups, Flagg averaged 21.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
After registering a pair of 20-point double-doubles without committing a turnover against No. 2 Auburn and at Louisville, Flagg was declared the Associated Press and Lute Olson National Player of the Week and the ACC Rookie of the Week (Dec. 9).
Flagg broke the Duke and ACC freshman single-game scoring records with 42 points versus Notre Dame (Jan. 11), becoming the youngest player in NCAA history to have a 40-point game, according to Real Sports.
On Jan. 13, Flagg became the first player in ACC history to sweep the conference weekly awards (player and rookie of the week) three times. He is the fifth player in the history of the league to sweep the conference's weekly awards multiple times in a season, joining four former Blue Devils - Vernon Carey Jr. (2019-20), Zion Williamson (2018-19), Marvin Bagley III (2017-18) and Jabari Parker (2013-14), who each did so twice.
The freshman achieved a perfect 4.0 grade point average during the fall 2024 semester.
Flagg has posted seven double-doubles this season, including four with 20 points or more and two of those against ranked opponents, collecting 26 points and 11 rebounds versus No. 19 Kentucky and 22 points and 11 caroms against No. 2 Auburn.
Flagg has been voted as the ACC Rookie of the Week a record 12 times (Nov. 18, Nov. 25, Dec. 9, Dec. 23, Jan. 6, Jan. 13, Jan. 20, Jan. 27, Feb. 3, Feb. 17, Feb. 24, March 10) and the ACC Player of the Week five times (Nov. 25, Jan. 6, Jan. 13, Feb. 3, Feb. 24).
Flagg's 12 ACC Rookie of the Week awards are the conference record, passing the standard of 10 honors by Kenny Anderson of Georgia Tech (1990), Tyler Hansbrough of UNC (2006) and Jabari Parker of Duke (2014).
Flagg became the first ACC player to amass 500 points, 100 assists and 30 blocks in the regular season in the last 25 years, reaching those numbers in 26 games (at Virginia).
Flagg, who turned 18 years old on Dec. 21, currently leads Duke in points (18.7), rebounds (7.5), assists (4.1), steals (1.5) and blocked shots (1.3).
Flagg is the only player to rank among the ACC's top-10 in all five major statistical categories - scoring (3rd), rebounding (9th), assists (8th), blocked shots (8th) and steals (10th).
Flagg is the fourth-highest rated player in the history of the KenPom Player of the Year Standings (since 2011) with a rating of 2.563, trailing Frank Kaminsky of Wisconsin in 2015 (2.794), Zach Edey of Purdue in 2024 (2.699) and Russ Smith of Louisville in 2013 (2.636).
Flagg currently leads the KenPom Player of the Year Standings with a 2.563 rating, ahead of Auburn's Johni Broome (2.271) and Walter Clayton of Florida (1.539).
Flagg is the top-rated player by EvanMiya with a combined offensive and defensive rating of 10.66, compared to Johni Broome of Auburn, who is second with a 9.67 rating.
Flagg is rated as the No. 1 defender in the ACC and second nationally by EvanMiya with a defensive performance rating of 4.64, which is more than a point ahead of the conference's second-highest rated defender.
Flagg has distributed 40 assists with just eight turnovers in his last nine games – a 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio.

Duke Remains No. 1 in Top-25 Polls

Duke moved to the top of both the Associated Press and USA TODAY Coaches top-25 polls on March 10, and remained in the top spot on March 17 after winning three games in Charlotte to capture the ACC Tournament title.
The No. 1 ranking on March 10 was the first time the Blue Devils have been positioned atop the Associated Press poll since Nov. 29, 2021.
Duke has now been ranked as the No. 1 team in the nation for 147 weeks, more than any other program in the country.

On This Date

Duke has four times on March 23, all in the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils are 3-1 all-time on this date.
The last time Duke played on March 23, the Blue Devils beat Syracuse, 69-65, in the NCAA regional semifinal in Omaha, Neb.
On March 23, 1963, Duke defeated Oregon State, 85-63, in the NCAA Final Four consolation game in Louisville, Ky.

All-Access with Coach Jon Scheyer Debuts

The weekly television show, "Duke All-Access with Jon Scheyer," is back for its third season in 2024-25.
The 30-minute show features Jon Scheyer and his Blue Devils team. Presented in magazine format and produced by John Roth, the show also includes informative player features and behind-the-scenes access to the Duke program.
A production of Blue Devil Sports Properties from LEARFIELD, the show airs locally on ABC-11 WTVD on Sundays at noon ET and is live streamed on ABC11.com Saturdays at 10 a.m. ET. It is also available regionally across the FanDuel Sports Network on Fridays at 5:30 p.m. ET; and on MASN Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. ET. It can also be viewed via the Duke Athletics YouTube Channel and archived on GoDuke.com.

To stay up to date with Blue Devils men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook by searching "DukeMBB".

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