An Impressive Measure Of Duke’s 2025-26 Dominance

No statistic illustrates that fact better than the strength of the 2026 Duke men’s basketball team throughout the season: As of February, they had won 27 of their first 29 games. And did it while running one of the toughest schedules in the country.

That said, other statistics are almost as telling.

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Start with scoring advantage, a strength metric that reflects the balance on both sides of the ball.

With two games left in the regular season — including a “thank you for stopping by” day in honor of the one-and-done player anachronistically dubbed “Senior Day” — Duke is averaging 20.4 more points per game than its opponents in the ACC.

In the first 16 league games, Duke has held its opponents to 30 points or less in the first half in eight of them, with Stanford scoring 19 points at home. Duke held ACC clubs to 30 points or fewer in the second half nine times.

As February approaches, Virginia, ranked No. 11 at Cameron, scored just 26 points in the first half and 25 in the second half, according to the Associated Press. The Cavaliers shot 29.1% in the two periods and scored a total of 51 points.

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There is more.

Florida, which Duke ranks No. 7 in the latest AP poll, held Cameron to just 24 points in the first half. The Gators are one of 17 teams that have held the Devils to 30 or fewer points in their opening game.

The Blue Devils’ pressing may become even tighter as the season goes on. Of Duke’s last 13 opponents, only North Carolina has totaled more than 70 points (71 in a win at Chapel Hill on Feb. 7).

Worth noting: Duke also led ACC teams in scoring advantage last season, leading Group I by 20.5 points.

Before last year, only four teams in the ACC’s first 72 years had a scoring advantage of at least 20 points, signaling an efficient balance of offense and defense: North Carolina State’s undefeated 1973 team and Duke’s 1998, 1999 and 2001 teams. The ’25 team placed fifth.

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Those previous groups continue to perform at their peak. The Wolfpack won the NCAA championship in 1974 after a ’73 probation. Duke entered the ’99 national championship game with an ACC-record 24.7 point margin and won the 2001 NCAA championship.

Counting last year’s Blue Devils, only 11 ACC clubs have achieved an impressive balance of goal differential and defensive rating in the same season in nearly three-quarters of a century. Six of the last seven games (since 1981) have been to the Final Four.

If Duke ends the season leading in both categories, it would be the first time an ACC program has made such a strong statement two years in a row.

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