The Duke Blue Devils moved up from No. 3 to No. 2 in this week’s AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll, marking their highest ranking of the season. Despite their impressive 12-game win streak, the longest active streak in the nation, and dominant performances, with an average victory margin of 20.5 points, head coach Jon Scheyer believes there’s still room for improvement.
“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet,” Scheyer said on Monday’s ACC men’s basketball call. “That’s the key. You can keep winning, but you want to keep getting better.”
As of Saturday, Duke ranks second in scoring margin (+21.6), fifth in field goal percentage defense (.366), sixth in scoring defense (59.3), and several other top spots in the ACC, including 11th in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.70), 15th in rebound margin (+8.6), 16th in three-pointers per game (10.6), and 26th in assists per game (17.3).
Duke is also the only team in the country ranked in the top-seven for both offensive (3rd) and defensive efficiency (2nd) on KenPom. They are the only Division I team to average over 80 points per game (80.9) while holding opponents to under 60 points (59.3).
Though the Blue Devils’ statistics suggest they are playing at an elite level, Scheyer pointed out areas that still need work.
“I haven’t been quite as happy with our defense,” he said. “Our defense hasn’t been at the same level. Part of that is not having Maliq (Brown), but part of it is that when you play a lot of games, sometimes there’s slippage in habits. Some of the things we were doing early in the season, I don’t feel like we’re doing as well now. So defense will be a big focus this week, especially in the half-court.”
With Duke already a formidable team and still not at their peak, the thought of what they could become is a frightening one for their opponents.