The Blue Devils are in action in Cameron Tuesday night versus the Pitt Panthers coached by former Duke guard and associate head coach Jeff Capel. Duke is fresh off of a win against the Miami Hurricanes and are in 3rd place in the ACC with a 16-3 overall record, 6-2 in the acc.
Duke vs Pitt
Duke is 12-7 all-time versus Pitt, which includes a 6-1 mark since the Panthers entered the ACC in the 2013-14 season. Under Coach K, the Blue Devils are 6-2 in the series. This marks the series’ second meeting with former Blue Devil player and associate head coach Jeff Capel at the helm of the Panthers, and Capel’s first game at Duke as Pitt’s head coach.
Last season at Pitt, RJ Barrett scored 26 as Duke pulled out a 79-64 win at the Petersen Events Center.
The Opponent
Pitt is 13-7 overall and 4-5 in ACC play, which includes a season sweep of North Carolina and a victory over Florida State in the season opener. Sophomore Trey McGowens (13.1 points) leads a team that has four players averaging in double figures. Sophomore Xavier Johnson averages 11.9 points and 5.3 assists. The Panthers have not allowed more than 80 points in a game this season, and have not yielded more than 73 since the calendar turned to 2020.
Duke
Duke comes in second nationally in scoring margin at +19.0 and fourth nationally in scoring offense at 82.9. Seven of Duke’s 15 wins are by 30+ points, including four ACC wins by 30+, which ties a program record. The program record for most 30-point wins in ACC play was previously set in 1997-98, 1998-99 and 2000-01. The 39-point margin in the BC win (88-49) was Duke’s largest in an ACC game since beating Georgia Tech, 110-57, on Jan. 3, 2017.
The Blue Devils are 4th in the nation in points, 6th in blocked shots, 38th in offensive rebounding and 12th in field goal percentage. Duke is first in the ACC in points per game & field goal percentage, 2nd in steals & blocks and 3rd in the ACC in assists & 3pt field goal percentage.
Vernon Carey Jr. leads the Blue Devils in both scoring and rebounding, nearly averaging a double-double with 17 points per game and 8 rebounds. Carey also leads the team in blocks at just under 2 per game. Tre Jones leads the Blue Devils in assists at 6.8 per game, he also averages 15 points and a team leading 2 steals per game. Cassius Stanley and Matthew Hurt round out the double figure scorers for the Blue Devils with 12.2 and 11.5 points per game respectively.
