The Duke Blue Devils are in a category of their very own following Saturday’s demolition of the Virginia Cavaliers.
Duke, which moved to No. 1 within the Related Press prime 25 ballot following final weekend’s win over the beforehand top-ranked Michigan Wolverines (27-2, 17-1 in Massive Ten), defeated arguably its hardest competitors within the ACC (relying on freshman ahead Caleb Wilson’s availability for the No. 18 North Carolina Tar Heels), 77-51. The Blue Devils by no means trailed the Cavaliers and led by as many as 28, discovering themselves peaking on the proper time with the NCAA Match solely three weeks away.
Dominant Duke win exhibits Blue Devils must be overwhelming March Insanity favorites
No. 11 Virginia (25-4, 13-3 in ACC) entered Saturday’s sport driving a nine-game profitable streak, outscoring opponents by a median of 12 factors per sport, 79.2-67.2, together with a 90-61 win over NCAA Match-hopeful NC State Wolfpack (19-10, 10-6 in ACC).
But it surely was no match for Duke (27-2, 15-1 in ACC), which has staked an undisputed declare as the most effective crew within the nation coming into March.
Saturday’s win was the Blue Devils’ fifth double-digit victory over a ranked opponent this season, their most since 2001-02, in response to the ESPN broadcast. General, they’ve 10 wins over AP-ranked opponents by a median of 12.1 factors per sport.
The win additionally clinched Duke the No. 1 seed within the upcoming ACC event, set for March 10-14, the place it must be an awesome favourite to earn its twenty fourth convention event title.
This system is 12-2 in Quad 1 video games following Saturday, tied for essentially the most within the nation with No. 3 Michigan and the No. 2 Arizona Wildcats (26-2, 13-2 in Massive 12). Duke’s two losses have come by a mixed 4 factors, one to the No. 16 Texas Tech Red Raiders (21-7, 11-4 in Massive 12) on a late free throw with three seconds left and the opposite to North Carolina (22-6, 10-5 in ACC) on a 3 with 0.4 seconds remaining.
The Blue Devils have outscored convention opponents by practically 18 factors per sport, 80.1-62.4. As gifted as they’re on offense, their protection units them aside. Per KenPom, they’re No. 1 in adjusted defensive ranking. On Saturday, Duke held Virginia to 29.1 p.c capturing, its lowest capturing proportion of the season. The Cavs’ earlier season-worst was 36 p.c in a triple-overtime loss to Virginia Tech on Dec. 31.
After Saturday, there’s little doubt Duke is the nation’s finest crew. The one query left is that if will probably be capable of stick the touchdown.
