Duke’s ACC Dominance Is Impressive

The ACC’s most enduring domination by one school over another ended last season when Clemson rallied in the late going at Chapel Hill, the Tigers’ own Bermuda Triangle, and won in overtime. (See the Sept. 27, 2020 piece on DBR.) That ended a streak of 59 straight losses dating back to January 1926 in Tar Heel home arenas.

Duke hasn’t been involved in any streak of that duration, but there have been a few notable recent runs. Several arose or were extended over the past decade, which Mike Krzyzewski adjudged his best ever at the school.

Duke is 28-3 combined against lowly Boston College and Wake Forest since 2011. All of its losses came on the road. The Blue Devils are 19-2 against the Eagles since BC joined the ACC for the 2006 season, with a pair of 2020 wins.

They’re 24-4 against the Demon Deacons since Boston College came aboard in 2005. Last year Wake Forest beat Duke at Winston-Salem in overtime, after 11 straight losses to the Blue Devils.

Georgia Tech hasn’t beaten Duke in more than a decade, since January 2010, a run of 13 games. The teams most recently clashed early in the 2020 calendar year.

Over the past 23 seasons, the Devils are 37-3 against the Yellow Jackets. Duke’s sole home loss to the Jackets during that span occurred in 2004, with both teams ranked and en route to the Final Four.

During the early evening of a warm March 3rd the Jackets, led by guards Will Bynum, B.J. Elder and Jarrett Jack and Australian center Luke “Big Bird” Schenscher, outplayed a squad led by NBA first-rounders Luol Deng, J.J. Redick and Jay Williams. Not incidentally, Krzyzewski vigorously disputed calls with ref Karl Hess throughout the physical match in which Tech blocked 11 shots, Duke had 22 offensive rebounds, and 49 personal fouls were called.

Clemson hasn’t won at Cameron Indoor Stadium in its last 18 visits, since January 4, 1995. That day saw a trio of firsts: The start of the streak, the first ACC game of Rick Barnes’ combative four-year tenure at Clemson, and the first contest Krzyzewski missed due to the exhaustion and back pain that sidelined him for the remainder of the ’95 season.

Clemson’s fruitless visits are hardly unique. Over the past decade Duke has lost a dozen home games overall, with three undefeated seasons in ACC play (2011, 2013, 2014) and only two years with as many as three Cameron losses (2012, 2016).

The Devils did surprise everyone last November by dropping a home contest against the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, severing a 150-game win streak at Cameron against nonconference opponents. “I told our players, ‘Banners can’t beat us tonight,’” SFA coach Kyle Keller said, an exhortation doubtless shared by dozens of coaches visiting Cameron over the years. “’The players have to beat us.’”

Currently Duke has nine ongoing winning streaks and no losing runs of more than a single game’s length against ACC rivals. The count now stands at three victories in a row at home against non-league teams.