NCAA Tournament Regional Final “Elite Eight”
#1 Duke Blue Devils (34-3, 19-1 ACC) vs. #7 Alabama Crimson Tide (28-8, 13-5 SEC)
Saturday, March 29 • 8:49 p.m. ET
Prudential Center (16,755) • Newark, N.J.
TV: TBS/truTV
Radio: Blue Devil Sports Network from LEARFIELD / Westwood One
The Duke Blue Devils battle the Alabama Crimson Tide Saturday for a chance to get to a Final Four.
Broadcast Information
TV/Video Stream TBS/truTV
Play-by-Play Brian Anderson
Analyst Jim Jackson
Reporter Allie LaForce
Producer Tom Heitz
Director Matt Lipp
Radio Blue Devil Sports Network
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM
This Series
Overall Duke leads, 8-3
In Durham, N.C. Duke leads, 2-0
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 2-0
In Tuscaloosa, Ala. Duke trails, 1-2
at Coleman Coliseum —
Neutral Sites Duke leads, 5-1
in NCAA Tournament —
Last Meeting Duke 74, Alabama 64 (Nov. 27, 2013)
Alabama Crimson Tide
Nate Oats is in his sixth season as Alabama head coach. Alabama leads the nation in scoring offense (91.4 points per game) and rebounds per game (42.7), and ranks seventh nationally in both free throws attempts per game (25.5) and free throws made per game (18.3).
The Crimson Tide boast five active players averaging double digits in scoring, topped by First Team All-American Mark Sears with 19.0 points per game, along with a team-high 184 assists. Sears is seventh in the nation with 199 made free throws, connecting on 85.0% from the foul line. Aiden Holloway and Grant Nelson are right behind sears at 11.6 and 11.5 points per game respectively, with Nelson leading the team in rebounds per game at 7.6. Nelson also leads the team with 43 blocked shots. Freshman Labaron Philon and senior Chris Youngblood round out the double figure scoring at 10.4 and 10.3 respectively.
Duke Blue Devils
Duke owns the second-highest net rating (38.88) in the history of KenPom (since 1996-97 season). Only the 1998-99 Duke Blue Devils have achieved a higher net rating (43.01). The Blue Devils have won 30 of their last 31 games since late November, including the nation’s second-longest current win streak at 14 consecutive victories. Duke leads the nation in scoring margin (+21.1) and ranks third in the country in assist to turnover ratio (+1.83), third in effective field goal percentage (.582), sixth in field goal percentage (.494), sixth in field goal percentage defense (.385), seventh in scoring defense (62.5), ninth in turnovers per game (9.3), 11th in rebound margin (+7.6), 11th in three-point percentage (.385), 12th in scoring offense (83.6), 17th in assists per game (17.0) and 19th in three-pointers per game (10.3) – all top marks in the ACC. Duke leads the ACC in scoring offense (83.6) and scoring defense (62.5), and could become the first team in ACC history to lead the conference in both categories. Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-five in both offensive (1st) and defensive (5th) adjusted efficiency, according to KenPom. Jon Scheyer’s team is the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (83.2) and hold its opponents to fewer than 63 points per game (62.5).
Cooper Flagg is the first player in Duke and NCAA Tournament history to post 30 points, six rebounds, seven assists and three steals in a game. Flagg leads the Blue Devils in scoring at 19 points per game, he also leads the rebounds at 7.5 and assists at 4.3 per game. Kon Knueppel is shooting 64.7% from the field and 55.6% from distance in the tournament. Knueppel is averaging 14.2 points per game and 3.9 assists. Tyrese Proctor rounds out the Duke double figure scorers at 12.4 per game.
Stats Comparison
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 37 | 40.0 | 29.1 | 58.9 | .494 | 18.8 | 32.2 | .586 | 10.3 | 26.8 | .385 | 15.1 | 19.1 | .788 | 10.8 | 27.5 | 38.3 | 17.0 | 6.7 | 3.9 | 9.3 | 15.9 | 83.6 |
| Alabama | 36 | 40.3 | 31.2 | 64.1 | .487 | 20.6 | 34.3 | .601 | 10.6 | 29.8 | .356 | 18.3 | 25.5 | .719 | 12.5 | 30.2 | 42.7 | 17.3 | 6.1 | 4.5 | 12.7 | 18.9 | 91.4 |
Stats Comparison (Conference)
| G | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duke | 20 | 40.0 | 29.5 | 58.4 | .505 | 19.2 | 32.4 | .593 | 10.3 | 26.0 | .396 | 15.1 | 18.6 | .814 | 9.6 | 25.7 | 35.3 | 17.2 | 6.1 | 3.8 | 8.7 | 15.8 | 84.4 |
| Alabama | 18 | 40.3 | 31.5 | 63.9 | .493 | 21.1 | 36.5 | .578 | 10.4 | 27.4 | .379 | 18.7 | 25.7 | .726 | 10.3 | 27.9 | 38.2 | 16.8 | 5.7 | 4.3 | 12.4 | 19.8 | 92.1 |
Duke Projected Starters
PG Sion James 6’6, 220lbs – Grad Transfer
SG Tyrese Proctor 6’6, 183lbs – Junior
SG Kon Knueppel 6’7, 217lbs – Freshman
SF Cooper Flagg 6’9, 205 lbs – Freshman
C Khaman Maluach 7’2, 250lbs – Freshman
Alabama Projected Starters
G Mark Sears 6’1, 190lbs – Grad Student
G Chris Youngblood 6’4, 223lbs – Grad Student
G Labaron Philon 6’4, 177lbs – Freshman
F Grant Nelson 6’11, 230lbs – Grad Student
C Clifford Omoruyi 6’11, 250lbs – Grad Student
Final Thoughts
The Crimson Tide are an elite offensive team, they are the fastest team by pace in the tournament, and they want to run. Each team has decided advantages – the Blue Devils have size, but the Tide are quick, and have legitimate depth. I’m not certain getting in a track meet favors Duke in this one, but they may not have a choice. A huge part in this for Duke is chasing the talented guards for Nate Oats’ team off of the 3 point line, letting them get open looks, as BYU found out is a recipe for disaster. The Blue Devils must defend Alabama but do so without fouling them, this is a team that wants to get on the line and does so frequently and their conversion rate is, for lack of a better word, elite. Taking care of the basketball will be paramount – that means more than just limiting turnovers, it also means taking good shots and not putting your defense in situations that give Alabama the opportunities to play against scramble defense. If that does happen, Duke has to locate quickly on the break, find shooters, cover areas. Overall, I would like to see Duke be aggressive on both ends
