Duke Returns To The Hardwood To Host Wofford Who Returns To Tobbaco Road After Knocking Off North Carolina In Chapel Hill

It has been thirteen days since Duke who is ranked fourth in this weeks AP Top 25 poll and who is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference last hit the hardwood against another opponent other then themselves.

On Thursday night that will change when Duke takes on Wofford who is a member of the Southern Conference when Wofford returns to tobacco road to take on Duke after knocking off Duke’s tobacco rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Sunday.

Duke comes into the game with a record of 9-1 while Wofford comes into the game with a record of 7-4.

As for Duke’s previous game,

They opened up their Atlantic Coast Conference slate by winning on the road in Blacksburg against Virginia Tech.

In Duke’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener this season however that changed with Tyus Jones  younger brother Tre Jones running the offense for Duke.

Tre Jones was pleased that when No. 10 Duke fell behind early at Virginia Tech, the Blue Devils showed composure and gradually worked their way back. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/12/6/second-half-pushes-no-10-duke-past-virginia-tech-77-63.aspx

Jones had four in that latter burst, which ended with the Blue Devils ahead 62-55. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/12/6/second-half-pushes-no-10-duke-past-virginia-tech-77-63.aspx

First year Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young had this to say about Mike Krzyzewski’s point guard.

"Tre Jones is so disruptive. He's made great progress with his game offensively but he is a mean dude defensively," Hokies first-year coach Mike Young said.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/12/6/second-half-pushes-no-10-duke-past-virginia-tech-77-63.aspx

As for the other players who contributed for Duke,

Freshmen Vernon Carey Jr. and Wendell Moore Jr. added 12 points each for the Blue Devils (9-1, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference), who had lost three in a row in Cassell Coliseum. They used runs of 12-2 just after halftime and 12-3 a short time later to take command after trailing for almost the entire first half. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/12/6/second-half-pushes-no-10-duke-past-virginia-tech-77-63.aspx

As for Wofford’s previous game,

Like Duke,

They won their previous game as they knocked off Duke’s tobacco road rival North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

For the second time in three seasons, the Wofford men's basketball team upset the nationally-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in Chapel Hill, defeating the 17th-ranked Tar Heels 68-64 at historic Carmichael Arena on Sunday night. “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

"That was fun," said Wofford head coach Jay McAuley. "It was an unbelievable effort by our team and one that my coaching staff and I are very proud of. We've got a lot of respect for North Carolina and Coach Williams and we're thankful for the opportunity to play on this stage again. And boy did we play well. I'm really proud of those guys." “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

The win is Wofford's second win over an Associated Press Top 25 team in program history, with the other coming on December 20, 2017, in the Dean E. Smith Center against the fifth-ranked Tar Heels 79-75. Sunday's game was played in North Carolina's Carmichael Arena due to a scheduling conflict, and was the first regular-season men's basketball game there since 1986. “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

"There's so much tradition in general here," said McAuley. "But particularly in this facility with all the history that have been here, we knew there was a lot going into this game. We have about five or six guys from two years ago and from last year that competed in this series, so they knew what it was going to take and they certainly led the charge with our younger guys, and it was a total team effort." “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

Wofford scored 15 points off turnovers, committing just 5 while forcing 11. With the team battling foul trouble (21 total), the bench continued its strong play, outscoring the Tar Heel reserves 24-8 in the win. Wofford shot 37.9 percent from the field, knocking down 14 threes (14-40) and dishing out 19 assists. “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

Trevor Stumpe scored a game-high 19 points to go with five assists, three rebounds and two steals. Storm Murphy totaled 15 points with Messiah Jones scoring 13 points, grabbing five rebounds and blocking three shots. “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

Murphy was active early, setting up Stumpe for a three before knocking one down himself. North Carolina pulled ahead by one, but 3-pointers from Tray Hollowell and Murphy put Wofford in front 14-11. The Tar Heels held a slight advantage, but Wofford knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to pull ahead by seven around the seven-minute mark.”according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

After North Carolina took the lead, the Terriers battled back, getting a pair of 3-pointers from Murphy and a three-point play from Jones that knotted the game up at 28-28. Stumpe scored a pair of buckets inside to make the game 32-32, but the Heels scored the last four points of the half to go into the break ahead 36-32. “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspxhad

"First half, I got some open looks which was great," said Murphy. "My teammates and coaches were telling me to keep shooting. In the second half, I tried to impact the game in other ways. When we moved the ball, UNC was scrambling a bit and we got a lot of open looks."“according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

Stumpe connected on another trey to start the second, with Goodwin scoring inside to give Wofford a one-point lead. After North Carolina took the lead back, Nathan Hoover knocked down his first 3-pointer of the night to even the game at 42-42. Donovan Theme-Love, Isaiah Bigelow and Stumpe all connected from behind the arc, with Jones grabbing an offensive board and scoring inside to make the score 53-42 in favor of the Terriers. “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

North Carolina climbed back into the game, scoring seven unanswered but Stumpe hit three free throws and fed Jones inside for a slam that made the score 60-51. The Tar Heels cut the lead to four, but a Jones steal and layup out of a Wofford timeout put the Terriers back ahead by seven. “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

"With guys returning from two years ago, we knew what it was going to take," Stumpe said. "In the second half, we were up double-digits and they went on a run but we just stayed even-keeled and stayed with our game plan." “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

North Carolina's Anthony Harris drained a three to make the deficit just four with 51 seconds to play, but the Terriers avoided the Tar Heels' trap as Stumpe found  Hoover for the game-sealing 3-pointer. “according to https://woffordterriers.com/news/2019/12/15/mens-basketball-terriers-take-down-no-17-north-carolina-68-64.aspx

Unlike Duke, Wofford hasn’t had such a long layoff from playing another opponent as they last played on Sunday in Chapel Hill where they knocked off North Carolina by a score of 68-64 so could Duke be rusty at the start of the game on Thursday night?

Tip-off is set for 7:00pm from Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN2.