Duke Basketball Climbs One Spot Closer to Top NET Ranking

Gonzaga's loss bumped the Duke basketball team to No. 3 overall.

Duke basketball guard Isaiah Evans / Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Duke basketball enjoys a four-game winning streak, including a home win over the No. 2-ranked Auburn Tigers and an ACC-opener road victory over the Louisville Cardinals. More weapons are surfacing, including a rookie wing shooting 50.0 percent from three for the season in "Showtime Slim" Isaiah Evans.

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And on Sunday, without even playing a game in five days, Jon Scheyer's third Duke basketball squad jumped one notch to No. 3 in the NCAA NET Rankings, a metric to evaluate teams for the NCAA Tournament.

That rise results from the now-No. 4 NET Gonzaga Bulldog's 77-71 defeat at the hands of the defending back-to-back national champion UConn Huskies, up nine spots to a No. 11 NET, in Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

The Blue Devils, currently No. 4 in the AP Top 25 Poll, sit below SEC programs in the NCAA NET Rankings: No. 1 Auburn and the No. 2 Tennessee Volunteers. Duke (8-2, 1-0 ACC) is 3-2 in Quad 1 games, trailing only Auburn and the Memphis Tigers in that win column, while posting a 1-0 mark in Quad 3 outings and 4-0 in Quad 4.

Four other ACC teams check in with a top-50 NET: the No. 12 Pitt Panthers, coached by Duke basketball alum Jeff Capel, plus the No. 19 Clemson Tigers, No. 36 UNC Tar Heels, and No. 39 SMU Mustangs.

Next up for the Blue Devils is a home bout against the George Mason Patriots (7-3, 0-0 Atlantic 10, No. 87 NET) at 7 p.m. ET Tuesday (ACC Network).

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