Finest participant, finest résumé.
That is what No. 4 Duke claims possession of after its newest high-profile victory, a 66-60 win Saturday at No. 7 Michigan State.
The Blue Devils may additionally be the most effective staff … however we have got a protracted method to go and a number of competitors on the prime of the game to find out that. As issues stand now, Jon Scheyer’s 10-0 Blue Devils are most actually among the many three or 4 finest faculty basketball has to supply, notably after Purdue‘s debatable grasp on No. 1 disappeared with its baffling house rout by the hands of No. 10 Iowa State.
No. 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherever you wish to slot Duke by way of staff prowess, I do not suppose there’s an argument in opposition to Duke’s case to have the most effective physique of labor by the primary 5 weeks of the season. Arizona had that declare in mid-November (I wrote about it right here) after successful at shorthanded UConn, after which Michigan held a rightful entitlement to it following its historic three-game romp by the Gamers Period Championship. (I lined that, too.)
Now it is Duke’s flip.
If I have been to construct an NCAA Match bracket popping out of this weekend, the Blue Devils can be my No. 1 total seed. (After Friday’s CBS Sports activities Bracketology had the Blue Devils at No. 2 total behind Michigan.)
Half of the Blue Devils’ wins have come in opposition to power-conference competitors. No different faculty can match that. Duke is 4-0 in Quad 1 video games. No different staff has a report that good; Michigan is the one 3-0 staff in Quad 1 outcomes. This is a shock: Saturday marked Duke’s first win over a top-10 opponent on the street since February 2019, when Zion Williamson and Co. beat Virginia. (Hey, I used to be at that one.)
Listed here are the 5 huge Ws, 4 of which got here in opposition to ranked competitors. Numbers in parentheses are the place the groups at the moment rank at KenPom.com:
- 75-60 over Texas (55) in Charlotte on the opening night time of the season
- 78-66 over Kansas (18) within the Champions Basic at Madison Sq. Backyard
- 80-71 over Arkansas (30) within the Thanksgiving Basic on the United Middle
- 67-66 over Florida (12) on Tuesday at Cameron Indoor
- 66-60 over Michigan State at Breslin Middle on Saturday
Discover how 4 of Duke’s 5 finest wins have come away from house, and with the 4 most up-to-date wins additionally transpiring in opposition to coaches with nationwide championships to their title: Self, Calipari, Golden, Izzo. And the margin of victory in these 5 video games? A fluffy 8.6 factors.
Duke additionally simply received three consecutive video games in opposition to ranked groups within the common season for simply the second time in program historical past. (February of 2016 being the opposite.)
At BartTorvik.com, Duke has leapfrogged Michigan in Wins Above Bubble, a résumé metric that does not consider predictive information and now additionally has a proxy that the choice committee makes use of. (Iowa State is now third in résumé power following its historic takedown of Purdue.)
What does all of it imply? Greater than you may suppose.
Duke will inevitably take losses this season, sure, however the truth it is gotten to 10-0 and nonetheless hasn’t performed a well-rounded sport is an unnerving thought for the remainder of the game. Go have a look at the previous 5 weeks price of outcomes round faculty hoops. We have seen Michigan on the near-peak of its powers, and I might say the identical case may very well be made for Gonzaga, Iowa State, Arizona, even Michigan State. However Duke (and I feel UConn suits on this as properly) is but to place all of it collectively.
I am undecided the staff even actually is aware of learn how to full-on win but as a lot because it’s tailored to studying how to not lose. In any case, six of its prime seven minutes-getters are freshmen and sophomores. And it is nonetheless this good immediately? Hooooo, boy.
It might have been solely comprehensible for NPOY frontrunner Cameron Boozer and his teammates to easily come up brief within the hardest atmosphere they’ve seen this season. They trailed on the half, Breslin was boppin’ and Michigan State regarded properly on the scent.
Did not occur.
Thus far, it has but to occur to this staff that, regardless of its super-strong begin and influential model title, wasn’t even ranked within the prime 5 within the preseason.
Scheyer has been in a position to lose 5 NBA Draft picks and by some means decide up the place Duke left off a season in the past, when Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel and Blue Devils made the Last 4 as a 35-4 staff and ranked No. 1 at yr’s finish at KenPom. In the event you suppose simply bringing in elite prospects and/or prime switch portal targets and paying them big cash equates to large-scale successful since you’re at a blue blood, go ask Mark Pope how that is understanding this season.
Duke’s proving it could possibly win in a wide range of methods, too. On Saturday, it wanted to seek out its ugliest victory but. Having Boozer on the staff solves a number of issues, however he cannot do it alone. In reality, Boozer had the worst half of his younger profession vs. Sparty when he managed simply two factors. He picked up a 3rd foul — a totally avoidable third foul, at that — early within the second half. At that time, it appeared like Michigan State was going to maintain its undefeated season going.
Then Boozer went beast mode once more: 16 factors and eight rebounds within the second half, ending with 18 factors, 15 boards, 5 assists and fouling out late within the second half. That fifth help was essentially the most essential. When Duke wanted a play to safe the win, the choice was for Boozer to make it occurred. Then he discovered himself mauled and double-teamed, so he handed to a wide-open Caleb Foster, whose 3 rolled in and clinched the sport.
MSU ran out of choices down the stretch. For as sensible of a distributor as Jeremy Fears Jr. has been this season (he leads the nation in assists, now averaging greater than 10 per sport), he did not make a subject purpose on Saturday (0-of-10). Tom Izzo is now a hapless 3-15 all time vs. the Blue Devils, and 1-10 in his final 11 video games in opposition to top-five opponents. It is the one huge bugaboo of his Corridor of Fame profession.
And even with Michigan State taking part in its type of selection in opposition to such an enormous staff — slow-tempo ball, conserving the sport within the 60s — Duke was snug within the battle for all 40 minutes. That is partly as a result of, though Michigan State was holding opponents to 60.4 factors heading into Saturday, Duke was a tick higher at 59.6. It was a second straight win with a battle into the ultimate minute; Duke held off Florida at house on Tuesday with a giant 3-pointer from Isiah Evans with 19.7 seconds remaining.
Now Duke is 10-0 for the primary time since beginning 11-0 in 2017-18.
And whereas Duke in all probability will not leap to No. 1 within the AP High 25 — I might count on Arizona or Michigan to take the highest spot — it may have the strongest file for 2 weeks, minimal. The subsequent sport of notice comes at Madison Sq. Backyard on Dec. 22, a meetup with Texas Tech.
Finest staff? We’ll see. However no different squad has confirmed extra in opposition to higher competitors actually from Sport 1 till now than Duke. It is beginning to make me surprise if, by some means, this staff can truly match the historic dominance of final yr’s group. That staff had video games misplaced on last-second photographs and botched performs. That is not occurring right here, which doubles as the most effective information for Duke. It is not solely off to a terrific begin, these Devils appears like they could have the one factor final yr’s elite staff lacked: a more in-depth’s mentality.