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1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team

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1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball
Setting up for a free throw vs. NC State, February 14
ACC regular season co-champions
NCAA tournament, second round
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 7
APNo. 11
Record22–8 (9–3 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
MVPJim Spanarkel
CaptainJim Spanarkel
Home arenaCameron Indoor Stadium
Seasons
1978–79 ACC men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 North Carolina 9 3   .750 23 6   .793
No. 11 Duke 9 3   .750 22 8   .733
Virginia 7 5   .583 19 10   .655
Maryland 6 6   .500 19 11   .633
Clemson 5 7   .417 19 10   .655
NC State 3 9   .250 18 12   .600
Wake Forest 3 9   .250 12 15   .444
1979 ACC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University during the 1978–79 college basketball season.

Roster

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1978–79 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown
G 12 Vince Taylor 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 180 lb (82 kg) Fr Lexington, KY
G 14 Rob Hardy 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Columbus, OH
F 20 Gene Banks 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Philadelphia, PA
G 21 Bob Bender 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Jr Crown Point, IN
G 22 John Harrell 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Jr Durham, NC
G 23 Steve Gray 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Sr Woodland Hills, CA
F 24 Harold Morrison 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr West Orange, NJ
G/F 30 Jim Suddath 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So East Point, GA
F 33 Kenny Dennard 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) So Walnut Cove, NC
G 34 Jim Spanarkel 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Sr Jersey City, NJ
C 43 Mike Gminski 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) 245 lb (111 kg) Jr Monroe, CT
C 44 Scott Goetsch 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Chatsworth, CA
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on
Compiled from multiple sources[1][2]

Schedule

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
November 25*
No. 1 at Western Kentucky W 78–53  1–0
E. A. Diddle Arena 
Bowling Green, KY
November 27*
No. 1 SMU W 86–80  2–0
Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
December 1*
No. 1 vs. No. 6 N.C. State
Big Four Tournament
W 65–63  3–0
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
December 2*
No. 1 vs. No. 14 North Carolina
Big Four Tournament
W 78–68  4–0
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
December 5*
No. 1 La Salle W 66–42  5–0
Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
December 13*
No. 1 No. 12 Southern California W 79–65  6–0
Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
December 29*
No. 1 vs. Ohio State
ECAC Holiday Tournament
L 84–90  6–1
Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
December 30*
No. 1 vs. St. John's
ECAC Holiday Tournament
L 66–69  6–2
Madison Square Garden 
New York, NY
January 2*
No. 1 at Davidson W 77–59  7–2
 
Davidson, NC
January 5*
No. 5 vs. No. 15 Long Beach State
Holiday Doubleheader
W 79–78  8–2
Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
January 6*
No. 5 vs. Tulane
Holiday Doubleheader
W 74–64  9–2
Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
January 10
No. 7 Clemson W 73–54  10–2
(1–0)
Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
January 13
No. 7 at No. 3 North Carolina L 68–74  10–3
(1–1)
Carmichael Auditorium 
Chapel Hill, NC
January 18
No. 8 Wake Forest W 81–69  11–3
(2–1)
Cameron Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
January 21
No. 8 at No. 14 N.C. State W 75–69  12–3
(3–1)
Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
January 24
No. 7 at Virginia W 84–66  13–3
(4–1)
 
Charlottesville, VA
January 28*
No. 7 No. 13 Marquette W 69–64  14–3
(4–1)
Cameroon Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
January 31
No. 3 at Wake Forest W 75–60  15–3
(5–1)
 
Winston-Salem, NC
February 3
No. 3 No. 17 Maryland W 87–78  16–3
(6–1)
Cameroon Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
February 6
No. 3 Virginia W 64–63  17–3
(7–1)
Cameroon Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
February 10*
No. 3 Pittsburgh L 69–71  17–4
(7–1)
Cameroon Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
February 14
No. 5 N.C. State W 66–48  18–4
(8–1)
Cameroon Indoor Stadium 
Durham, NC
February 16
No. 5 at Maryland L 68–70  18–5
(8–2)
 
College Park, MD
February 18*
No. 5 vs. No. 9 Louisville W 88–72  19–6
(8–2)
Charlotte Coliseum 
Charlotte, NC
February 21
No. 6 at Clemson L 49–70  19–7
(8–3)
Littlejohn Coliseum 
Clemson, SC
February 24
No. 6 No. 4 North Carolina W 47–40  20–6
(9–3)
Cameroon Indoor Stadium 
Cameron, NC
ACC tournament
March 1*
vs. Wake Forest
ACC tournament • quarterfinals
W 58–56  21–6
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
March 2*
vs. N.C. State
ACC tournament • semifinals
W 62–59  22–6
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
March 3*
vs. North Carolina
ACC tournament • final
L 63–71  22–7
Greensboro Coliseum 
Greensboro, NC
NCAA tournament
March 11*
vs. St. John's
NCAA tournament • second round
L 78–80  22–8
Reynolds Coliseum 
Raleigh, NC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
Compiled from multiple sources[3][4]

Rankings

[edit]
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
AP111111578733565611
Coaches11117796436767Not released

^Coaches did not release week 1 or week 2 polls.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "1978–79 Duke men's basketball roster" (PDF). Duke Athletics. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  2. ^ "1978–79 Duke Roster and Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  3. ^ 1978–79 schedule. GoDuke.com Retrieved 2012-11-20.
  4. ^ "2019–20 Duke MBB Media Guide" (PDF). Duke Athletics. Duke University. October 14, 2019. p. 174. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
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