Top Ranked Duke Looks To Rebound From Their First Loss Of The Season As They Conclude Their Homestand With Winthrop
With top ranked Duke suffering their first loss of the season earlier this week to Stephen F. Austin on their homecourt it’s likely they won’t be number one when the new AP Top 25 poll comes out Monday. Louisville who like Duke is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference will likely number one unless they lose to Western Kentucky.
On Friday however, Duke will be the top ranked team in the country when they look to rebound from their first loss of the season when they host Winthrop who is a member of the Big South Conference to closeout their two game homestand before heading out on the road for two games starting with the rematch of last years elite eight as Duke will visit East Lansing where they will look to avenge their 68-67 loss to Michigan State and then they will open Atlantic Coast Conference play when they head to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech who has a new coach in Mike Young who spent seventeen seasons as the head coach at Wofford before arriving in Blacksburg after Buzz Williams decided to take the head coaching job at Texas A&M.
Have Duke and Winthrop met before on the hardwood? The answer is yes.
Duke and Winthrop have met just once previously, that was a 2002 NCAA Tournament First Round game in Greenville, S.C. -- an 84-37 Blue Devil victory behind 19 points each from Carlos Boozer and Jason Williams...In games against members of the Big South Conference, Duke is 16-0 all-time. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-no-1-blue-devils-welcome-winthrop-friday-night.aspx
Winthrop’s head coach Pat Kelsey who is in his eighth season at Winthrop is familiar with the Atlantic Coast Conference. as he on Skip Prosser's and Dino Gaudio's staffs at Wake Forest from 2001-09. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/27/mens-basketball-no-1-blue-devils-welcome-winthrop-friday-night.aspx
Duke comes into the game with a record of 6-1 while Winthrop comes into the game with a record of 4-3.
As for Duke’s previous game, As stated above, they lost to Stephen F. Austin.
Duke had the ball in the closing seconds of overtime, but Tre Jones missed a jumper with about 15 seconds left and Wendell Moore rebounded it. Hounded by the Lumberjacks' high-pressure defense, Hurt threw the ball away in a scramble with about 3 seconds left and it went to Bain — who went the length of the floor for a buzzer-beating layup.
Tre Jones had 17 points and 12 assists — but also had eight turnovers against a high-pressure Stephen F. Austin defense that is the nation's best at generating takeaways. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/26/mens-basketball-duke-falls-short-to-stephen-f-austin-in-ot.aspx
Vernon Carey had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils (6-1), who had 22 turnovers and were just 11 of 24 from the free-throw line in the second half. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/26/mens-basketball-duke-falls-short-to-stephen-f-austin-in-ot.aspx
There were two ties and a lead change in the final minute of regulation, with Kensmil tying it at 81 with his layup with 19 seconds remaining. That left Duke with the last shot before OT, but after Jones missed a turnaround jumper with about 4 seconds left, the rebound was batted around to Stanley, whose jumper off the glass went off the rim at the buzzer. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/26/mens-basketball-duke-falls-short-to-stephen-f-austin-in-ot.aspx
While Duke suffered their first loss of the season Stephen F. Austin meanwhile rebounded from their latest defeat on the road against Rutgers.
Nathan Bain hit a buzzer-beating shot as time expired to lead the SFA men's basketball team over the No. 1 ranked Duke Blue Devils 85-83 on the road Tuesday. “according to https://sfajacks.com/news/2019/11/26/mens-basketball-bains-buzzer-beater-leads-sfa-past-no-1-duke-85-83.aspx
SFA's overall record moved to 5-1 after the victory. “according to https://sfajacks.com/news/2019/11/26/mens-basketball-bains-buzzer-beater-leads-sfa-past-no-1-duke-85-83.aspx
The Lumberjacks had four players score in double figures, led by Kevon Harris, who had 26 points, four assists and three steals. Cameron Johnson tacked on 16 points and two steals off of the bench and Gavin Kensmil helped out with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.”according to https://sfajacks.com/news/2019/11/26/mens-basketball-bains-buzzer-beater-leads-sfa-past-no-1-duke-85-83.aspx
SFA shared the ball well in Tuesday's game, racking up 17 assists on 36 made field goals. Kensmil totaled four assists to lead the 'Jacks and John Comeaux also added four assists of his own.”according to https://sfajacks.com/news/2019/11/26/mens-basketball-bains-buzzer-beater-leads-sfa-past-no-1-duke-85-83.aspx
SFA forced 22 Duke turnovers while committing 14 themselves in Tuesday's game. The 'Jacks turned those takeaways into 22 points on the offensive end of the floor. Bain led the way individually with three steals.”according to https://sfajacks.com/news/2019/11/26/mens-basketball-bains-buzzer-beater-leads-sfa-past-no-1-duke-85-83.aspx
Unlike Duke,
Winthrop won their previous game as they beat Pheiffer.
D.J. Burns Jr. led seven Winthrop players in double-figures with a career-high 19 points in a 127-83 victory over Pfeiffer, Monday evening at the Winthrop Coliseum.
FIRST HALF
Eagles jumped out to a 12-0 lead in less than two minutes, getting buckets from five different players during the run
Chandler Vaudrin wasted no time after the Eagles won the tip as he worked his way into the paint and scored 10 seconds in
Hunter Hale made it 10 straight points with a steal that led to a fast break as Josh Ferguson laid a pass off to Hale for the finish
D.J. Burns Jr. capped off the run with a short jumper in the lane
Midway through the half the Falcons cut the Eagles lead down to five points after Jerome Savoy knocked down two free throws
Burns Jr. came right back to score inside, only to have Pfeiffer answer with a three from Taylan Rowe to make it a four-point game
Vaudrin scored inside to spark a 6-0 spurt to get the Winthrop lead back to double digits
The Falcons made it a two possession game at 38-33 with 8:15 left in the half but the Eagles outscored them 21-11 the rest of the way for a 59-44 lead at the break
Eagles shot 51 percent from the floor in the first half despite going 5-for-21 behind the arc
Winthrop held Pfeiffer to 33 percent shooting and forced 12 turnovers that led to 20 points in the first half “according to https://winthropeagles.com/news/2019/11/25/mens-basketball-seven-players-in-double-figures-as-eagles-earn-home-win-over-pfeiffer.aspx
SECOND HALF
Over the first five minutes the Eagles slowly increased their lead and a Vaudrin triple gave them a 22-point lead
Micheal Anumba scored on a drive prior to the Vaudrin triple that started a 17-2 run that put the Eagles on top by 31 points (85-54) with 10:54 remaining
The Eagles pushed the lead to over 40 points with a little over six minutes to play
Winthrop shot 63 percent from the floor in the half (8-of-18 from three) while holding Pfeiffer to 26 percent
Josh Corbin scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half to lead the bench that put up 50 points in the final 20 minutes alone . “according to https://winthropeagles.com/news/2019/11/25/mens-basketball-seven-players-in-double-figures-as-eagles-earn-home-win-over-pfeiffer.aspx
Tip-off is set for 7:00pm from Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.