Duke basketball’s trip to the West Coast turned into a rousing success as the Blue Devils earned two ACC victories in wins over California and Stanford. Pollsters took notice, and Jon Scheyer’s squad jumped up one spot in the latest USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.
The Blue Devils (17-1, 6-0 ACC) moved into the top five at No. 5, trailing only Arizona, UConn, Michigan and Purdue in the rankings, as Iowa State, losers of two straight games this week, dropped from No. 2 to ninth.
In Wednesday’s victory in Berkeley, the Blue Devils took advantage of a double-double from Cameron Boozer (21 points, 13 rebounds), 17 points from Isaiah Evans and an intense defensive performance to hold off the Golden Bears in a 71-56 victory.
On Saturday, Duke jumped on the Cardinal early and often, taking a 35-19 lead into halftime, eventually running Stanford out of its building in an 80-50 victory. Boozer recorded another double-double with 30 points and 14 rebounds, while Evans put up 15. The Blue Devils held the Cardinal to 35 percent shooting from the field, including 24 percent from three.
Duke returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday when the Blue Devils host Wake Forest at 5:45 p.m. ET.
