They say the devil is in the details. But in Durham, the Blue Devils are in the details—and numbers.
Each week, the Blue Zone will dissect five key stats from last week's action in Duke sports, whether they be historic or underwhelming. This week, let the numbers take you inside the second week of the basketball season, a surprising victory for Duke football and the NCAA soccer tournaments.
37
With all the eyes on the freshmen in Chicago Tuesday night, Grayson Allen stole the show, pouring in 37 points to lead the No.1 Blue Devils past No. 2 Michigan State 88-81. The senior shot an outstanding 63.6 percent from deep, canned seven treys and led a young Duke team down the stretch. With the game tied at 75, late Allen found an open Gary Trent Jr. on the wing, who sunk a triple.
On the next Blue Devil possession, Allen made a 3-pointer of his own over Miles Bridges to push the lead to six. After a Spartans basket, the cold-blooded shooter put away the game with another long ball as the shot clock wound down. The gutty performance put Allen as the early favorite for National Player of the Year.
Find out the whole story - Grayson Allen scores career-high 37 to lead No. 1 Duke past No. 2 Michigan State
7
The frontcourt duo of Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. has certainly lived up to expectations thus far. Bagley recorded his third double-double of the season with a 19-point, 11-rebound showing against Southern Friday.
Meanwhile, Carter registered his first two double-doubles this week, contributing 12 points and 12 rebounds in the win against Michigan State. He followed up that performance with a 20-point, 11-rebound outing against the Jaguars. Duke is the only team in the country with more than three players registering multiple double-doubles, as point guard Trevon Duval has two of his own to push the team total to seven.
Find out the whole story - Duke controls offensive glass for critical second chances in marquee victory and Marvin Bagley III returns to lead Duke men's basketball past Southern
43
Suffering through a six-game skid, very few predicted that the Blue Devils would break through and beat Georgia Tech on Saturday. But the offense finally woke up from the two-and-a-half-month slumber to put up 43 points against the Yellow Jackets—the most points put up since the first week of the season of against North Carolina Central. Daniel Jones had two touchdown passes and Duke’s rushing attack broke through for 319 yards on 6.3 yards per carry.
Find out the whole story - PALPABLE BUZZ: Duke football puts up 43 points to blow past Yellow Jackets and Duke football outruns Georgia Tech's triple option in upset win
10
As the NCAA tournament continued for the women’s soccer team, the Blue Devils showed why they can contend for the national title, blanking their opponents 10-0 in two games. On Friday, Duke thumped Oklahoma State in the second round, vanquishing the Cowboys 7-0, led by goals from six different players and zero opposing shots on goal. The Blue Devils continued rolling Sunday, downing Texas in the Round of 16 3-0. The victory was the 22nd for the program this year, matching a Duke record. The Blue Devils will play Baylor in the quarterfinals this Friday with a chance to advance to the Final Four after missing out last year.
Find out the whole story - Duke women's soccer wins 7-0 to set program scoring record in NCAA tournament and Duke women's soccer posts third straight shutout to advance to Elite Eight
2
With goals from Kristofer Gardarsson and Max Moser, Duke men’s soccer advanced in the NCAA tournament with a 2-1 victory against Florida International University. Will Pulisic made seven saves throughout the contest Sunday evening to hold the Blue Devils' lead. They will play Fordham—which upset No. 11 seed Virginia—in Durham Saturday night.
Find out the whole story - Duke men's soccer wins first NCAA tournament match since 2011
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