Duke is the No. 1 seed in the East region, to play at Lenovo Center in the first round of the NCAA Tournament :: WRALSportsFan.com
Duke is the No. 1 seed in the East region and will play its first-round game at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh.
The Blue Devils will play Friday against the winner of the play-in game between 16 seeds American and Mount St. Mary’s.
If Duke wins its first-round game, the Blue Devils would play either No. 8 seed Mississippi State (21-12, 8-10 SEC) and No. 9 seed Baylor (19-14, 10-10 Big 12).
Duke (31-3, 19-1 ACC) enters the NCAA Tournament having won 11 consecutive games. The Blue Devils won the ACC regular season and the conference tournament championship for the first time since 2006.
Auburn is the No. 1 overall seed and will play in the South region. Florida is the No. 1 seed in the West region and Houston is the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region.
Duke went 9-3 against Quad 1 teams during the 2024-25 season. Meanwhile, Auburn (28-5, 15-3 SEC) went 16-5 against Quad 1 teams.
The Blue Devils’ last win over a ranked opponent came on Dec. 4 against Auburn.
At the start of the week, the Blue Devils ended Auburn’s eight-week stay at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll.
If Duke and Baylor play in the second-round of the tournament, it sets up a matchup against former Blue Devils guard Jeremy Roach.
Roach transferred to Baylor for the 2024-25 season. He is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points per game.
Duke expected to get Cooper Flagg back for NCAA Tournament
Duke looks to get back star freshman Cooper Flagg, who sprained his left ankle during Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Georgia Tech.
On Sunday, Duke head coach Jon Scheyer said on ESPN the team would take it slow with Flagg’s practice schedule. Scheyer said the goal is to have Flagg available for Friday’s game.
Flagg missed Duke’s semifinal game against North Carolina and the final against Louisville.
Cooper is the ACC Player of the Year and is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick June’s NBA Draft. He leads Duke in nearly every statistical category, including points (18.9 per game), rebounds (7.5 per game), assists (4.1 per game), steals (1.5 per game) and blocks (1.2 per game).
While Cooper generates the most attention, Duke has a deep team and has blown out opponents this season. Duke ended the ACC schedule with a plus-434 point differential, the largest by a power-conference team in league play since Kentucky in 1953-54, according to the sports statistics website Stathead.
Fellow freshman Kon Knueppel has led Duke in scoring in three of its last four games. Junior guard Tyrese Proctor led the Blue Devils in scoring with 19 points in Saturday’s 73-62 win in the ACC Championship game against Louisville.
Knueppel is the Blue Devils’ second-leading scorer at 14.4 points per game and Proctor’s 12 points per game rank third on the team.
Duke’s recent history in the NCAA Tournament
Duke will make its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under third-year head coach Jon Scheyer. It marks Duke’s fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance overall. The Blue Devils missed the NCAA Tournament in 2021.
Scheyer guided last year’s Duke team to the Elite Eight before losing to NC State. It’s the furthest in the NCAA Tournament he’s taken Duke as a head coach.
Duke has struggled in games played in Raleigh at what’s now called the Lenovo Center and what used to be called PNC Arena. Duke has lost seven of its past 11 games in Raleigh. It includes losses to NC State in 2010, 2013, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2023 to go with the first-round NCAA loss to Mercer in 2014.
For context, Flagg was 3 years old back in 2010.
Other North Carolina teams playing in the NCAA Tournament
Source: wralsportsfan.com