PITTSBURGH — In the final road game of Mike Krzyzewski’s 42 seasons as Duke’s coach, the Blue Devils accomplished something they hadn’t managed in more than a decade.
The No. 4 Blue Devils routed Pittsburgh, 86-56, Tuesday night, clinching the No. 1 seed for the ACC tournament and claiming at least a share of first place in the ACC standings for the first time since 2010.
Duke has one regular-season game to play, Krzyzewski’s final home game at Cameron Indoor Stadium against North Carolina on Saturday at 6 p.m. But the team’s first goal of finishing atop the ACC standings has been accomplished no matter the outcome of that game.
Duke (26-4 overall, 16-3 ACC) can do no worse than tie Notre Dame (21-8, 14-4 ACC) for first place. But the Blue Devils are assured of the top seed for the next week’s ACC tournament in Brooklyn based on their 57-43 win at Notre Dame on Jan. 31.
The last time Duke finished first in the ACC standings in 2010, when the NCAA champion Blue Devils shared first place with Maryland. The last time the Blue Devils finished in first all by themselves was 2006.
Duke has finished first in the ACC regular season 13 times during Krzyzewski’s tenure. The Blue Devils will seek their 22nd ACC tournament championship, and 16th under Krzyzewski, when they begin the postseason on March 10 at noon at the Barclays Center.
The Blue Devils no-sweat win over Pittsburgh (11-19, 6-13 ACC) on Tuesday night ran their current winning streak to seven games in a row, matching the season-best winning streak they established by winning their first seven games of the season.
Duke hit five of its first six shots, including four of five 3-pointers, while opening a 16-3 lead. Freshman guard Trevor Keels hit two 3-pointers during that stretch while freshman forward Paolo Banchero and junior forward Wendell Moore each added one. The Blue Devils extended their opening push to lead 22-7. Pitt cut the deficit to nine points before Duke took a 36-19 halftime lead.
Duke’s lead never fell into single digits again.
Keels led Duke with a season-best 27 points, including 15 in the first half when he hit all three of his 3-pointers. Keels hit 10 of 15 shots and was 5 of 8 on 3-pointers.
Banchero scored 21 points and a third freshman, A.J. Griffin, scored 12 points for Duke. Moore finished with 13 points to give Duke four players in double figures.
The Blue Devils shot 48% in the first half while building their big lead and finished at a season-best 59.3%. Duke made 11 of 22 3-pointers (50%).
Pittsburgh shot 42.1% from the field, hitting only 5 of 18 3-pointers (27.8%).
Duke finished the road portion of its ACC schedule 9-1, with the lone loss coming Jan. 18 at Florida State when the Seminoles won 79-78 in overtime. The Blue Devils have gone 12-1 since then.
