In their opening postseason battle, the seventh-seeded Blue Devils handled business, defeating No. 10-seed Georgia Tech 70-58 in the second round of the ACC tournament Thursday evening at Greensboro Coliseum.
Duke will likely be coming up against some of the top squads in the conference in rematches from the regular season as it heads into a stacked playoff bracket. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at the prospective opponents that Duke could face throughout the tournament all the way through to the finals.
Junior guard Reigan Richardson was named to the All-ACC Second Team, and freshman and fellow backcourt member Oluchi Okananwa was selected as both the Sixth Player of the Year and named to the ACC All-Freshman Team.
For head coach Kara Lawson’s team, Sunday’s 63-59 loss at North Carolina is not worth panicking over. In fact, Duke once again showed its ability to hang tough and battle back, leaving it in good headspace for the postseason.
In the regular season finale, Duke was locked into another dogfight against rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill. However, the result was the opposite of the first matchup between the two squads, as North Carolina emerged with a 63-59 win to end the Blue Devils’ regular season on a sour note.
The Blue Devils head to Chapel Hill Sunday afternoon for a vital rivalry clash against North Carolina, looking for both a season sweep and a boost in seeding for the ACC tournament. The Chronicle's beat writers are here to offer their predictions of how Duke will fare.
While their defense continued its upward trend of stifling opponents' offenses and silencing star players, the offense also shone bright, proving that everything is coming together for Duke and the team is peaking at the perfect time.
Driven by double-digit scoring efforts from junior guard Reigan Richardson and senior center Kennedy Brown, Duke was able to hold off Virginia 73-54 to secure its final home-court victory of the regular season Thursday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Lawson bought low — investing in eight underclassmen, but has shaped them into leaders of one of the most dominant defenses in the country, and used that defense to stifle a potent N.C. State attack for a second-straight ranked victory.
The Blue Devils were coming hot off of their away victory Thursday against Syracuse — and knocked the Wolfpack out cold. The game ended with a 69-48 Blue Devil victory, their second in a row against a ranked ACC opponent.
Duke desperately needed to right the ship in order not to fall into a three-game slide. The Blue Devils did just that, dismantling the Orange’s dynamic offense and picking up their first ranked road win of the season while showing the ceiling for how elite their defense can be when playing to their full potential.
Despite the chilly temperatures outside and the chillier crowd inside the JMA Wireless Dome, the Blue Devils, riding the strength of an outstanding second quarter, found a way to come out on top of the Orange in a big-time 58-45 win.
In its 70-62 loss to Notre Dame, Duke once again showed its most fatal flaw: It lacks the offense, and by proxy the star power, to take down top-flight teams.
Early in the second half, the home team looked like it would pull off the upset and send the visitors back to South Bend, Ind., with another tick in the loss column, but Notre Dame fought back viciously, snatching the lead away from the Blue Devils and walking away with the 70-62 win.
Despite the loss, the Blue Devils certainly have something to be proud of — this was a close game against an excellent team, and while the finish was disappointing the performance on the whole was solid.
In front of a packed house at Cassell Coliseum Thursday night, No. 12 Virginia Tech eked out a 61-56 victory against the Blue Devils in a game that went down to the absolute wire.
Duke head coach Kara Lawson is headed to the 2024 Paris Olympics as an assistant coach for the USA Women’s National Team, she announced at Tuesday's media availability.
If each quarter was five minutes, North Carolina would have controlled this game from start to finish. Fortunately for the Blue Devils, there was time to mount a comeback. That wasn't the only time they did so.
Despite falling behind in the third quarter, Duke rallied behind a monstrous performance from forward Delaney Thomas in the fourth quarter to win the game 68-60 in overtime.
Duke welcomes hometown rival North Carolina to Cameron Indoor Stadium Sunday afternoon for their first showdown of the season. Before the 2 p.m. tipoff, The Chronicle’s beat writers are here to offer their predictions about how the Blue Devils will fare.
