Duke basketball looks to extend remarkable streak
By Matt Giles
One 20-year streak is at stake in Saturday’s Duke basketball season opener.
Hosting a Coppin State program that is coming off an 11-20 campaign, it seems the 41st Duke basketball team under Mike Krzyzewski should have no issue extending one of the legend’s most remarkable streaks.
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See, the Blue Devils haven’t dropped a season opener since an 80-79 overtime loss at the hands of then-No. 13 Stanford on Nov. 11, 1999, in Madison Square Garden (that Duke squad then fell again to then-No. 1 UConn one night later before reeling off 18 straight wins).
So that’s currently 20 straight wins for the Blue Devils in official debuts. And, of course, that’s zero losses in season openers this century.
Granted, the run includes 17 home games and plenty of victories over the likes of Presbyterian, Belmont, Siena, etc.
On the other hand, more recently, the streak includes Duke’s 34-point demolition of then-No. 2 Kentucky in 2018 and the encouraging 68-66 defeat of then-No. 3 Kansas in 2019 (both W’s came on neutral floors as part of the Champions Classic).
Needless to say, the Blue Devils are typically far from rusty out of the gates under Coach K. After all, the Hall of Famer’s only other season-opening L as head coach of Duke came on Nov. 28, 1981, in double overtime inside Cameron Indoor Stadium against then-unranked Vanderbilt.
Other fun Duke basketball facts entering the game against Coppin State
The 266 days that have passed since Duke’s last outing of the 2019-20 season — an 89-76 home win on Senior Night against North Carolina — mark the longest drought between games for the Blue Devils since the 267 days that separated the 1981-82 and 1982-83 seasons.
The matchup against Coppin State marks the latest date for a Duke season opener since the program welcomed Canisius to Cameron Indoor on Dec. 1, 1992.
Finally, when the No. 9 Blue Devils and unranked Eagles tip in Durham at 2 p.m. Saturday on ACC Network Extra, it will mark the 13th consecutive Duke team to make its debut inside the top 10 of the AP Poll and will also be the 25th consecutive Duke team to rank inside the top 10 at some point in the season (the longest such streak in the country by 10 years).
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