DURHAM, N.C. – After back-to-back double-doubles to open his career, Duke freshman Marvin Bagley III doubled up on the ACC weekly honors by being named the league’s Rookie of the Week and co-Player of the Week.
Bagley III led No. 1 Duke (2-0) to a pair of season-opening wins by becoming the Blue Devils’ first freshman to post double-doubles in each of his first two collegiate games. The native of Phoenix, Ariz., scored 25 and pulled down 10 rebounds in Friday’s 97-68 win Elon and followed that with 24-10 in Saturday’s 99-69 victory over Utah Valley.
He is the first Duke freshman with back-to-back double-doubles since January 2016 when Brandon Ingram went for 19-10 versus Miami and 14-10 versus Georgia Tech. It is the first time a Duke freshman posted back-to-back 20-10 games since Jabari Parker had consecutive games of 21-10 versus FAU and UNC-Asheville in November 2013. The rookie also matched another Duke record held by Parker for most points by a freshman over the first two games of a career (49).
In Friday’s win, Bagley III set the scoring record for a Duke freshman in a season opener with 25 points (Shavlik Randolph, 23 vs. Army on Nov. 12, 2002). Bagley III also became just the second Duke freshmen to record a double-double in a season opener (Jason Williams vs. Stanford on Nov. 11, 1999). Bagley III did his damage this weekend on 23-of-35 shooting (.657). Of his 20 boards, 15 have come on the defensive glass, while chipping in two assists and three steals in 65 minutes.
The No. 1 Blue Devils face No. 2 Michigan State Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the State Farms Champions Classic in Chicago on ESPN.
