ACC Basketball Power Rankings: Duke Blue Devils gelling at the right time

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - FEBRUARY 10: Teammates Jordan Goldwire #14, Wendell Moore Jr. #0 and Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils react after a play against the Florida State Seminoles during their game at Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 10, 2020 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 22: Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils (Photo by Porter Binks/Getty Images) /

1. Duke Blue Devils (22-3)(12-2 ACC)

The Duke Blue Devils sit in a familiar place, atop of the ACC at 12-2 in conference play. Coach K’s squad has edged out some wins in some very close games and are currently on an ACC-high 7-game winning streak entering their Wednesday night road matchup with NC State. Duke is averaging 84.7 points per game over their 7-game winning streak and was able to pull out a defense-first 64-55 win against Boston College on February 4th.

Duke’s OT thriller against North Carolina was actually an ugly game offensively but featured Tre Jones and Wendell Moore making two of the savvier, heads up plays in Blue Devil history in their Chapel Hill win. Duke despite only shooting 50% or better once, over their last three games, they are averaging 87.3 points over that same span.

Matthew Hurt chipped in 12 points when Duke put up 94 in the win over Notre Dame, and he came off the bench for 12 points in the five-point win over Florida State. This was a huge reversal for Hurt, who had a combined two points and 17 minutes in two games against Boston College and North Carolina. Hurt’s contributions come at a nice time, as National Player of the Year candidate Vernon Carey Jr. had his first 20-point performance (21 points on 8-for-10 shooting) since February 1 in the win over Notre Dame.

With Carey bruising in the paint and Hurt starting to heat, Tre Jones’s transformation into bonafide star makes the Blue Devils the clear-cut favorite in the ACC. Jones is on an absolute tear, averaging 19.0 0points over his last five games. His 28-point performance in the OT win over North Carolina featured his amazing missed free throw, rebound, and jump shot sequence to get to OT, and his 13 points and 6 assists were huge in a gritty win over Florida State.

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Coach K is getting important contributions from a variety of players which bodes well for Duke’s national title hopes. For now, the Blue Devils will be focused on trying to lock down a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With no ranked teams left on the regular-season schedule, Duke will need to lock in on defense with two matchups with NC State and a road game against Virginia looking the most daunting.