With No. 1 seed Duke men's basketball kicking off its NCAA Tournament run Friday afternoon, the Blue Zone is here with a preview of the Blue Devils' first opponent.
After each Duke men's basketball game, check back here for the Player of the Game and more. The Blue Devils cruised past North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the first of this season’s rivalry contests. The Blue Zone breaks down the 87-70 victory.
They say all good things come to an end; No. 1 Duke’s historic fairytale season (18-3-1, 9-0-1 in the ACC) finally closed its curtains. A bitter 3-0 loss to archrivals North Carolina (21-5, 7-3 in the ACC) on a cold winter night meant Church ended his final season in an heartbreaking fashion. Leading his last team to this fourth Final Four appearances in his 24 years at the helm, the legendary Church will retire as the winningest coach in Duke’s history, falling just shy of 400 career wins.
The last time Duke played field hockey at North Carolina’s Karen Shelton Stadium was last season’s heartbreaking Final Four loss to Northwestern. This time, however, the Blue Devils took on No. 8 Maryland in the first round of the NCAA tournament and triumphed 1-0, advancing to the national quarterfinals.
In the ACC tournament quarterfinals, No. 6 Duke field hockey traveled to Winston-Salem Tuesday to take on Wake Forest. Despite facing a valiant defense by the Demon Deacons early in the game, the Blue Devils ultimately prevailed, winning 4-1 and clinching a ticket to the ACC semifinals.
The Blue Devils traveled all the way to California for a historic conference victory against No. 7 Stanford, winning 4-1 for a first-ever win at the Laird Cagan Stadium and ending the Cardinal’s 34-game unbeaten home record.
Duke field hockey fell 1-0 to No. 12 Liberty in a battle of defensive prowess and missed opportunities at home Sunday afternoon.
Bustin’s squad has the potential to do something special this season, but the question remains whether they can break through and takedown teams like Northwestern and North Carolina. With plenty of talent and strong chemistry, the 2024 season should be filled with plenty of excitement.
With this upcoming season being head coach Robbie Church’s last with the Blue Devils, the pressure is on for Duke to return to the tournament as a positive send-off to the winningest coach in Blue Devil history.
As Duke basketball continues to prepare for the upcoming season, the Blue Zone is here to break down film from the new additions to both the men’s and women’s teams. On the men’s side, we’ve already looked at Kon Knueppel, Patrick Ngongba II and Isaiah Evans. Next up is Khaman Maluach.
