College Hoops

Preview: #5 Duke Blue Devils (27-8) vs. #4 Tennessee Volunteers (24-10)

Preview: #5 Duke Blue Devils (27-8) vs. #4 Tennessee Volunteers (24-10)

About Duke

A year removed from reaching the program’s 17th Final Four, the Blue Devils own the best winning percentage in NCAA Tournament history at .753 (119-39). Duke’s 119 tournament wins rank third all-time and its five championships are fourth most. Duke extended its winning streak to 10, while snapping Oral Roberts’ Division I leading 17-game win streak, with Thursday’s 74-51 victory behind junior Jeremy Roach’s (right) career-high tying 23 points and freshman Dereck Lively II’s 12 rebounds and six blocked shots.

Finding continuity after a year full of injuries, Duke has played 11 consecutive games with its full complement of players and has started the same lineup in 15 straight — both its longest stretches this season. Duke is 19-1 overall in games with its full roster available.

Duke has ushered in the Jon Scheyer era with a priority on defense and rebounding — the Blue Devils have held opponents below their season scoring average 31 times (27-4 in those games) and have out-rebounded 29 opponents (25-4 in those games).

Duke limited Oral Roberts, the nation’s sixth best scoring offensive, to 51 points — 33 below its average of 84.2, while out-rebounding the Golden Eagles, 46-32. ACC Tournament MVP Kyle Filipowski 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. Roach has matched his career-high 23 points in consecutive games after scoring 23 in the ACC Tournament title game win over Virginia. His team-high 23 on Thursday snapped a streak of 13 consecutive NCAA Tournament games that a Blue Devil freshman was the leading scorer.

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