Duke Heads To Blacksburg For Their Atlantic Coast Conference Opener Against Virginia Tech
Earlier in the week Duke avenged last seasons elite eight loss to Michigan State when they beat them in East Lansing in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge.
Now it’s time for Duke who is ranked tenth in the AP Top 25 poll this week and who comes into the game with a record of 8-1 to open their Atlantic Coast Conference slate on Friday night in Blacksburg where they will be looking to avenge yet another loss from last season. This time to an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent in Virginia Tech who they played twice last season . Once during the regular season and once during the postseason. Virginia Tech comes into the game with a record of 6-2 and who has a new head coach in Mike Young who replaces Buzz Williams who is now the head coach at Texas A &M.
Mike Young was previously the head coach at Wofford where he spent 17 years. The Terriers posted a 30-5 overall record in 2018-19, including a perfect 18-0 mark in Southern Conference play, and registered a convincing 84-68 win over Seton Hall in the first round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. “according to https://hokiesports.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/coaches/mike-young/1346
Virginia Tech won last seasons regular season meeting in Blacksburg by a score of 77-72.
Ty Outlaw hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 88 seconds left and No. 20 Virginia Tech beat No. 3 Duke 77-72 on Tuesday night while Blue Devils star freshman Zion Williamson sat out his second straight game with a sprained right knee. “according to . “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/2/26/211792727.aspx
Kelly Blackshear Jr. had 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Ahmed Hill scored 17 points for Virginia Tech (22-6, 11-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), which beat Duke at Cassell Coliseum for the third straight game. The Blue Devils (24-4, 12-3) had been the only team in the country yet to lose on the road this season, but Duke hasn't won at Virginia Tech since Feb. 25, 2015. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/2/26/211792727.aspx
RJ Barrett scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half, but it wasn't enough to keep the Blue Devils from dropping out of a first-place tie with No. 2 Virginia Tech and No. 5 North Carolina in the ACC. Cam Reddish added 17 points as Duke dropped its second in three games, including an 88-72 loss to UNC when Williamson was injured Feb. 20.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/2/26/211792727.aspx
The Hokies seemed to have taken control with a 9-2 run to open a 68-61 lead with 4:32 to play, but Duke used a 9-2 run to knot it at 70 with 1:51 to play. Outlaw's 3 from the right wing followed a pass from Wabissa Bede, and after Reddish missed at the other end, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was fouled and made both free throws for the Hokies. Alexander-Walker had 13 points. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/2/26/211792727.aspx
While Duke won the postseason meeting in Washington D.C.
In the postseason game in Washington D.C. Duke avenged their regular season loss in Blacksburg winning by a score of 75-73.
Zion Williamson soared for a two-handed, rim-rattling, crowd-thrilling alley-oop slam that gave Duke its biggest lead during a tight tussle against Virginia Tech in the East Region semifinals. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/29/211797782.aspx
Williamson scored 23 points, RJ Barrett had 18 and a career-high 11 assists, and Tre Jones added 22 points and eight assists, helping No. 1 overall seed Duke avoid an NCAA Tournament upset and edge No. 4-seeded Virginia Tech 75-73 on Friday night. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/29/211797782.aspx
The Hokies had their chances in the closing seconds, the final one coming on an inbounds play with 1.1 seconds left. The ball went to Ahmed Hill as he jumped to the basket, but his attempt to tie it failed to fall. Hill dropped to the court on his back as Williams -- fittingly -- grabbed the basketball and smiled broadly. It was similar to the way two last-gasp shots went off the rim for Duke's second-round opponent, UCF. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/29/211797782.aspx
Before that final miss, both Hill and Ty Outlaw airballed 3-point attempts that would have put Virginia Tech ahead.
But Duke got through, even though it trailed much of the evening, including 38-34 at halftime. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/29/211797782.aspx
It took Duke 13 1/2 minutes just to grab its initial lead, on a three-point play by Jones that made it 26-24. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/29/211797782.aspx
As for Duke’s previous game,
As stated above,
They beat Michigan State in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge and the narrow 68-67 loss in the Elite 8 in Washington D.C. on March 31, 2019 that left point guard Tre Jones bent over with emotion became a distant memory for the now sophomore and tenth ranked Duke after their win in the ACC/ Big Ten Challenge in East Lansing over eleventh ranked Michigan State and Cassius Winston.
Tre Jones scored 20 points, matched a career high with 12 assists and made three steals as part of a defensive effort that forced 14 turnovers.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/12/4/mens-basketball-five-in-double-digits-as-no-10-duke-takes-down-no-11-michigan-state-87-75.aspx
Meanwhile his counterpart didn’t have the night he had as Cassius Winston chipped in with 12 points and seven assists for Michigan State. “according to https://msuspartans.com/news/2019/12/3/m-basketball-no-11-michigan-state-falls-to-no-10-duke-87-75.aspx
As for other players who contributed for Duke in their game in East Lansing against Michigan State,
Vernon Carey had 26 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks to help No. 10 Duke dominate No. 11 Michigan State in an 87-75 victory Tuesday night while Matthew Hurt had 10 points for Duke, which got 11 from Joey Baker and 10 from fellow reserve Javin DeLaurier. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/12/4/mens-basketball-five-in-double-digits-as-no-10-duke-takes-down-no-11-michigan-state-87-75.aspx
As for Virginia Tech’s previous game,
Unlike Duke, they lost their previous game as they lost to BYU. in Maui Hawaii.
Wrapping up the Maui Jim Maui Invitational on Wednesday night, the Virginia Tech men's basketball came up short against BYU in the third-place game at Lahaina Civic Center by a score of 90-77. “according to https://hokiesports.com/news/2019/11/28/mens-basketball-cougars-outrun-hokies-to-wrap-up-maui.aspx
The Cougars (5-3) lit it up from downtown, cashing in 17 3-pointers en route to their fifth win over the Hokies (6-2) in the all-time series, leading it 5-0. A big reason why BYU shot it so well from deep was because it got a game-high four triples from TJ Haws, who finished with 20 points. In similar fashion just a few years ago, his older brother Tyler – BYU's all-time leading scorer – had 42 points against the Hokies.”according to https://hokiesports.com/news/2019/11/28/mens-basketball-cougars-outrun-hokies-to-wrap-up-maui.aspx
Speaking of scoring, Tech's Landers Nolley II posted his fourth 20-point game of the season, owning a game-high 22 points and team-best seven rebounds. The redshirt freshman finished the tournament averaging 19.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game over the three contests to make the all-tournament team. “according to https://hokiesports.com/news/2019/11/28/mens-basketball-cougars-outrun-hokies-to-wrap-up-maui.aspx
Tech shot it well from the field, shooting 53.4 percent and making 11 3-pointers, but a pivotal BYU run (15-3) in between the first and second media timeouts of the second half proved to be too costly, as the Hokies never cut it back to a single-point game after that point.”according to https://hokiesports.com/news/2019/11/28/mens-basketball-cougars-outrun-hokies-to-wrap-up-maui.aspx
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half was about as close as it gets, with eight lead changes and seven ties taking place, as no team gained a larger lead than five points the first 20 minutes. Tech began the game with a four-point lead at 16-12 after a triple by Nolley, who scored nine of the Hokies' first 16 points.”according to https://hokiesports.com/news/2019/11/28/mens-basketball-cougars-outrun-hokies-to-wrap-up-maui.aspx
But the Cougars went on a run, getting back-to-back 3-pointers to take a 27-22 lead with seven minutes left in the first. However, Tech scored three straight buckets to retake the lead and then would go on to own a 37-35 advantage at the break.”according to https://hokiesports.com/news/2019/11/28/mens-basketball-cougars-outrun-hokies-to-wrap-up-maui.aspx
Tied at 48-all after the first media timeout of the second half at the 15-minute mark, the Cougars caught fire and would go on a 15-3 run to take a 13-point lead at 63-50 heading into the second media timeout at 11:42. That run, paced by Haws scoring eight of those points, flipped the momentum of the game, with the Hokies having to play catchup the rest of the way out.”according to https://hokiesports.com/news/2019/11/28/mens-basketball-cougars-outrun-hokies-to-wrap-up-maui.aspx
The closest Tech cut the deficit to was 10 points at the 2:05 mark after a 3-pointer from the right wing by freshman Nahiem Alleyne. But the Hokies wouldn't score again until three seconds remaining off a triple by freshman Hunter Cattoor, while the Cougars tallied six more points the final two minutes to claim the 13-point victory and third-place finish in the tournament. “according to https://hokiesports.com/news/2019/11/28/mens-basketball-cougars-outrun-hokies-to-wrap-up-maui.aspx
The senior point guard who missed 12 games before the NCAAs with a hurt foot -- and Hill soon replied by sinking 3s, pushing the Hokies back in front. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/29/211797782.aspx
Kerry Blackshear Jr. led the Hokies with 18 points and 16 rebounds. Hill scored 15. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/3/29/211797782.aspx
Tip -off is set for 7:00pm from Cassel Coliseum in Blacksburg. The game will be televised on the ACC Network.