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BASKETBALL

Duke Opens Exhibition Slate With Northwest Missouri State

A new season is about to tip-off as Duke who has five National Titles in the Mike Krzyzewski era and is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference will host North West Missouri State on Saturday night to open their exhibition slate that includes two games before opening up the regular season at Madison Square Garden against Kansas in the State Farm Champions Classic on November 5th.

So who is Northwest Missouri State? They’re the Division II Defending National Champions and finished last season with a record of 38-0 and a member of the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.

Have Duke and Northwest Missouri State met on the answer is yes. The two teams last met on Oct. 27, 2017a which Duke won handily 93-60. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/10/24/game-notes-mens-basketball-vs-nw-missouri-state.aspx

In their last meeting,

– Senior Grayson Allen's 23 points paced Duke to a 93-60 victory over reigning Division II national champion Northwest Missouri State Friday evening in Cameron Indoor Stadium. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2017/10/27/211675458.aspx

Blue Devil rookies Marvin Bagley III and Gary Trent, Jr. turned in 16 and 15 points, respectively, as Duke shot 61 percent from the floor for the contest. Freshman Wendell Carter, Jr. nearly finished with a double-double, racking up 11 points and a team-high nine rebounds as the Blue Devils cleaned up on the boards, 51-25. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2017/10/27/211675458.aspx

The Bearcats took a 3-1 lead on a trey by Chris-Ebou Ndow before Duke went ahead for good on an Allen layup two-and-a-half minutes in. Allen would go on to add eight more points to go along with six from Trent, Jr. and four from Bagley III as the Blue Devils stretched the margin to double digits.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2017/10/27/211675458.aspx

Trent, Jr., Carter, Jr. and Trevon Duval fueled a 7-0 run that made it 33-15 with 8:10 remaining in the half. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2017/10/27/211675458.aspx

Seventeen first-half points from Allen and 10 from Carter, Jr. lifted Duke to a 56-30 advantage at the intermission. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2017/10/27/211675458.aspx

The Blue Devils opened the second half with a solid defensive stretch, holding Northwest Missouri State under 40 points until the 11:48 mark. Led by Allen, the squad continued to fire on all cylinders offensively, with four players in double figures.  “according to https://goduke.com/news/2017/10/27/211675458.aspx

Duke continued to hold the Bearcats under 30 percent shooting from the floor late into the contest, and received a boost from the bench as sophomore Javin DeLaurier poured in nine points on 4-of-4 shooting. DeLaurier also pulled down seven rebounds and sophomore Marques Bolden added five to along with six points. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2017/10/27/211675458.aspx

As for how Duke finished last season,

They finished with a record of 32-6. and were knocked off in the Elite Eight by Michigan State.

Cassius Winston put Michigan State on his shoulders and carried the Spartans into the Final Four. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/31/211797994.aspx

The do-everything point guard took over the game when his team faced its biggest deficit and led second-seeded Michigan State to a 68-67 victory over overall No. 1 seed Duke on Sunday in the East Region final.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/31/211797994.aspx

Has Duke ever played Northwest Missouri State ? The answer is yes. Northwest Missouri State is making its second trip to Cameron Indoor in the last three seasons, also serving as an exhibition opponent for the Blue Devils on Oct. 27, 2017 -- a 93-60 Duke win… “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/10/24/game-notes-mens-basketball-vs-nw-missouri-state.aspx

As for how Northwest Missouri State finished last season. As stated above, they were crowned the division two national champions as they defeated. Point Loma.

The Bearcats used a key 7-0 spurt at the end of the first half to turn a 29-26 deficit into a 33-29 lead at the break. Senior Joey Witthus hit a bucket in the paint with 1:44 on the clock to pull the Bearcats within one. Freshman Diego Bernard made a layup with 32 seconds remaining until intermission. Point Loma's Josh Rodriguez turned the ball over with four seconds. Junior Ryan Welty got the steal and passed ahead to sophomore Ryan Hawkins who was able to drain a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/3/30/mens-basketball-national-champions-northwest-completes-perfect-season.aspx

Witthus scored 24 points and buried a 38-foot shot-clock buzzer beater with 6:42 left that gave Northwest a 10-point lead at 56-46. Witthus was 6-of-12 from the field, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. Witthus also buried all eight of his free throw attempts. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/3/30/mens-basketball-national-champions-northwest-completes-perfect-season.aspx

Point Loma's Daulton Hommes tallied a game-high 26 points and he posted his final points of the contest with two free throws that cut the Northwest leads to 59-54 with 1:35 to play. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/3/30/mens-basketball-national-champions-northwest-completes-perfect-season.aspx

With the outcome still in doubt, Hawkins hit basket in the lane to up the margin back to seven with 1:11 remaining. Hommes was called for an offensive foul on the ensuing possession to give the ball back to the Bearcats. Bernard sank two free throws with :12 left to put the Bearcats up nine at 63-54. Hawkins added one more free throw and Point Loma's Rodriguez scored a pair of layups to give Northwest the national title, 64-58. “according to https://bearcatsports.com/news/2019/3/30/mens-basketball-national-champions-northwest-completes-perfect-season.aspx

Tip-off is set for 7:00pm from Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game will be televised on ACC Network Extra.