The last time Portland State played Duke in December 1997, Nike had released the “Nike Air Foamposite One,” which looked like it came straight from a NASA laboratory and sold for $180—equivalent to approximately $275 today.
Two decades later, the two teams will face off once again to kick off the PK80 Invitational at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Portland, Ore., on Thanksgiving Thursday afternoon at 4:30. The tournament celebrates iconic Nike founder Phil Knight’s 80th birthday.
Although the Blue Devils will not be rocking any throwback shoes—rather, they will be wearing mono-black shoes—there are similarities between the 1997-98 squad and the one today. Then-freshman Elton Brand missed 15 games, including the matchup with the Vikings, due to a foot injury, but controlled the paint when he was healthy and eventually left Duke in 1999 to become the No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft.
Now, the Blue Devils arguably boast an even more talented frontcourt with freshman phenoms Marvin Bagley III and Wendell Carter Jr. The pair is averaging 32.4 points and 18.0 rebounds per game—tallying five double-doubles—and has been playing with chemistry in a lethal high-low game.
“We see a lot of mismatches on the court, so whenever I catch it up top or he catches it up top, our first look is down low to see if we have any options,” Carter said. “I think they recognize it's going to be a long night for them.”
Portland State will be on its heels all day trying to deal with the Duke bigs, but the Vikings (4-0) have proven they have the personnel to be a strong rebounding team. In its four victories, Portland State has averaged 18.0 offensive rebounds—the second-most in the country, edging out this very Blue Devil team by 0.4 boards per game.
Led by senior guard Bryce Canda, who is averaging 17.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game, the Vikings like to get out and run. First-year coach Barret Peery’s stated philosophy of having the ball hit the rim within the first 10 seconds of the shot clock has found success, with the team averaging 92.0 points per game and shooting a scintillating 41.2 percent from beyond the arc.
As good as Portland State’s offense is with five players averaging double digits, Duke boasts five of its own all scoring more than 11.5 points per game. Backcourt starters Grayson Allen, Trevon Duval and Gary Trent Jr. have shown an ability to score in spurts. Allen, who exploded for 37 points in primetime against No. 2 Michigan State, is averaging 18.4 points per game on 50.0 percent 3-point shooting despite scoring just 15 points in the last two games combined on 1-of-10 accuracy from deep.
“It just shows how many players on the team can score the ball and how good we are and how versatile our team is,” Duval said. “Whenever anyone isn’t really going, I feel as if between the other four, somebody is going to be able to go off and have a good game.”
Bagley echoed a similar sentiment about the unselfishness of the team.
“Everyone wants to see everyone else do well. There’s no egos. We’re not listening to the outside. Everyone in this locker room, we play as one and we’re brothers,” Bagley said. “We all want to see each other do well. Once we go on the court, whoever is going, we go back to them over and over just to keep the game moving at a high pace."
The key to distributing the ball and running the offense has been true freshman point guard Duval. He is 13th in the nation with 7.6 assists per game and boasts an assist-to-turnover ratio of 5.4:1. The New Castle, Del., native will have his hands full with a Vikings defense that is third in the nation in steals per game and fifth in turnovers forced per game, but Duke will be Portland State's first Power-5 conference opponent of the season.
The contest will be the first of three in a four-day stretch in Portland. If the Blue Devils (5-0) defeat the Vikings, they will play Friday against the winner of the Butler-Texas matchup. Another victory would send Duke to the championship game Sunday in a potential showdown with No. 7 Florida or No. 17 Gonzaga to cap the unique early-season event.
“Phil and I are great friends. We’re the lead school for Nike Basketball. Our school and our program have benefitted greatly from being with Nike and we feel it's the best,” Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “It’s very innovative, two eight-team tournaments and some of the best teams in the country.”
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