Duke faces VCU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament

Posted Monday, March 12, 2007

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Durham, NC - Duke (22-10, 8-8 ACC), the six seed in the West Region, faces 11th-seed Virginia Commonwealth (27-6, 16-2 CAA) on Thursday at HSBC Arena in Buffalo, N.Y. in the first round of the 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. Tip-off is set for 7:10 p.m. with CBS televising the contest.

The winner of the Duke-VCU games advance to the second round of the tournament to face the winner of the Pittsburgh-Wright State contest. Duke and VCU both earned at-large bids to the tournament and are unranked.

The Blue Devils have lost three straight contests, including an 85-80 overtime decision to N.C. State in the opening round of the ACC Tournament in their last outing.

Sophomore Greg Paulus led five double-figure scorers with 18 points in 42 minutes of action. Paulus has now led Duke in scoring eight times overall, including each of the last four contests. DeMarcus Nelson netted 17 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds against the Wolfpack, while Josh McRoberts added 17 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals. Freshman Jon Scheyer knocked down four three-point field goals and finished
with 14 points.

Sophomore Martynas Pocius had a career-high 14 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field in the loss. Pocius knocked down a pair of three-pointers and also converted two three-point plays for the Blue Devils.

Duke enters the NCAA Tournament having won four of its last seven contests. The Blue Devils are 8-8 against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament with wins over Davidson13MW, Georgia Tech10MW, Holy Cross13W, Indiana7W, Gonzaga10W, Boston College7E (2) and Georgetown2E.

Storylines

• Duke enters the 2007 NCAA Tournament as the six seed in the West region. The six seed is the lowest for a Blue Devil team since being an eight seed in the 1996 tournament. Duke, a six seed for the first time in school history, has a 2-2 mark when playing out of the West Region.
• Duke has an NCAA-best .759 winning percentage (85-27) all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Mike Krzyzewski is second in NCAA Tournament history with a .782 (68-19) winning percentage. Legendary UCLA coach John Wooden holds the top mark with an .825 winning percentage (47-10).
• Krzyzewski’s 68 NCAA Tournament wins are the most in NCAA history. Coach K has led the Blue Devils to 10 Final Fours and three National Championships.
• Duke is 27-4 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament overall, including a 21-2 mark in the opening round under Krzyzewski.
• The Blue Devils have advanced to the Sweet 16 in nine consecutive seasons, the longest current streak in the nation and the second-longest of all-time behind North Carolina's 13 in succession from 1981-93.
• Duke is 39-3 all-time against teams currently in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Blue Devils have won 27 straight against CAA foes, including 22 straight under Mike Krzyzewski. Coach K is a perfect 22-0 against the CAA while at Duke. The Blue Devils’ last loss to a Colonial Athletic Association team was an 85-82 overtime decision against William & Mary on Feb. 19, 1953.
• Duke is 8-8 overall against teams that made the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils were 5-1 against non-ACC teams that reached the NCAA Tournament and 3-7 against the other six ACC schools in the tournament.
• Greg Paulus has led the Blue Devils in scoring in four consecutive games and has reached double-figures in scoring in 11 straight games and in 15 of the last 16 contests. Over the last 11 games, Paulus is averaging a team-high 16.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game. During that stretch, he is shooting 47.0 percent (62-of-132) from the field, including 46.5 percent (33-of-71) on treys.
• Sophomore Josh McRoberts is one of two players in the country (along with Fresno State’s Dominic McGuire) averaging over 10.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 blocks per game. The Carmel, Ind., native enters the NCAA Tournament averaging 12.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.4 blocks per game. He is also shooting a team-high 50.2 percent (157-of-313) from the field.
• Junior DeMarcus Nelson has raised his 7.2 points per game from a year ago and is averaging a team-high 14.3 ppg. He has reaching double-figures in scoring a team-high 28 times this season.
• Freshman Gerald Henderson returns to action after serving a one-game suspension that stemmed from a flagrant foul and ejection against North Carolina on March 4. Henderson is averaging 13.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 50.0 percent (16-of-32) from the field in his last three games.
• Sophomore Martynas Pocius is coming off a career-high 14-point effort against N.C. State. The Vilnius, Lithuania, native was 5-of-5 from the field, including 2-of-2 from the foul line and 2-of-2 from three-point distance, in the loss to the Wolfpack.

Duke in the NCAA Tournament

Duke, making its 31st NCAA Tournament appearance, has been one of the best NCAA Tournament teams in the history of college basketball. The Blue Devils’ .759 winning percentage (85-27) in NCAA Tournament play is best all-time. Duke’s 85 NCAA Tournament victories are tied for
third in NCAA history. The Blue Devils are also ranked fourth in NCAA Tournament games played with 112. Duke remains just one of three programs to make fi ve or more consecutive Final Four appearances (the Blue Devils advanced to the Final Four every year from 1988-92).

Best NCAA Tournament Winning Percentage
(minimum 50 games)
Team Record Winning Pct.
Duke 85-27 .759
UCLA 85-31 .733^
North Carolina 89-37 .706
Kentucky 97-42 .698*
Michigan State 40-19 .678
Indiana 59-28 .678

Most NCAA Tournament Victories
Team Tournament Appearances Wins
Kentucky 47 97*
North Carolina 38 89
Duke 31 85
UCLA 38 85^
Kansas 35 73
Indiana 33 59

Most NCAA Tournament Games
Team Tournament Appearances Games
Kentucky 47 139*
North Carolina 38 126
UCLA 38 116^
Duke 31 112
Kansas 35 108
Indiana 33 87
*vacated 2-1 tournament record (1988)
^vacated 5-2 tournament record (1980, 1999)

Duke As A No. 6 Seed
Duke earned a No. 6 seed in the West Regional, marking the first time is has claimed a six seed and just the second time since seeding began in 1979 that the Blue Devils have entered the NCAA Tournament as lower than a fi ve-seed. Duke was an eight-seed in the 1996 tournament. Here
is a look at Duke’s seeding in the NCAA Tournament:

Duke seeding in the NCAA Tournament
Seed Times Record
No. 1 10 37-8
No. 2 6 20-5
No. 3 5 9-5
No. 4 1 2-1
No. 5 1 2-1
No. 6 0 0-0
No. 7 0 0-0
No. 8 1 0-1

12 Straight For Duke
Duke appearance in the 2007 NCAA Tournament will be its 12th consecutive trip to the tournament. The Blue Devils have the fourth longest active NCAA Tournament appearance streak in the country.

Current Consecutive Tournament Appearances
Team Record
Arizona 23
Kansas 18
Kentucky 16
Duke 12
Michigan State 10
Florida 9
Texas 9
Wisconsin 9
Gonzaga 8
Illinois 8

Blue Devils Against The NCAA Tournament Field
Duke has played 16 of its 32 games against teams in the 2007 NCAA Tournament. Duke has an 8-8 (.500) record vs. teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2007. Here is a look at Duke’s
ledger vs. teams in the 2007 NCAA field:

Team (Seed) Region Record
Boston College East 2-0
Davidson Midwest 1-0
Georgetown East 1-0
Georgia Tech Midwest 1-1
Gonzaga West 1-0
Holy Cross West 1-0
Indiana West 1-0
Marquette East 0-1
Maryland Midwest 0-2
North Carolina East 0-2
Virginia South 0-1
Virginia Tech West 0-1
Totals 8-8

Team Statistics vs. NCAA Tournament Teams
Duke Opp
Overall Record 8-8 -
Conference Record 3-7 -
Points 67.0 65.5
Rebounds 34.4 32.8
Def. Rebounds 22.2 21.9
Off. Rebounds 12.2 10.9
Field Goal Pct. .437 .440
3-Point Pct. .363 .313
Free Throw Pct. .676 .747
Personal Fouls 17.8 19.8
Assists 11.8 12.3
Turnovers 15.7 14.7
Blocked Shots 5.0 4.1
Steals 6.9 7.1

The ACC In The NCAA Tournament
Atlantic Coast Conference teams have won 10 national championships, including three by Duke. The ACC has a tournament high seven teams in the field this year. The conference has 10 or more NCAA Tournament wins in the last six years and 13 times overall. The ACC has not posted a losing
record in NCAA Tournament play since a 5-6 mark in 1987. The league’s 18-year non-losing streak in the NCAA Tournament is the longest among all conferences.