Duke basketball guard Bobby Hurley RVR Photos-Imagn Images

Two Duke Basketball Legends Squaring Off in Big 12 Action

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Matt Giles | Last updated Jan 14, 2025 5:21 PM ET

Around the time that Duke basketball home game against Miami wraps up on Tuesday night, a couple of former Blue Devil stars will lead their teams against one another. Johnny Dawkins and his UCF Knights (11-4, 2-2 Big 12) are on the road to face Bobby Hurley and his Arizona State Wildcats (10-5, 1-3 Big 12) at 11 p.m. ET (ESPNU).

It'll mark their only meeting this season, which is Arizona State's first in the Big 12 and UCF's second.

While the programs have never played each other, Dawkins enjoys a 1-0 clip in head-to-head battles against Hurley, as Hurley's first Arizona State squad lost to Dawkins' final Stanford team in 2015-16.

This season, both Dawkins and Hurley have encountered some disappointing outings yet have been resilient in getting their squads to bounce back.

Dawkins, still the second-leading scorer in Duke basketball history 39 years after the light-footed guard's senior campaign as a Blue Devil, oversaw a 51-point home loss to the Kansas Jayhawks on Jan. 5 before his Knights responded with a 75-74 home win over the Colorado Buffaloes three nights later.

The 61-year-old boasts a 159-107 overall record between nine seasons at UCF.

Hurley, still the all-time NCAA Division I assists leader over 30 years after winning back-to-back national champions as Duke's floor general, has watched his Sun Devils come a long way since falling to Jon Scheyer's Blue Devils, 103-47, in their late-October Brotherhood Run exhibition game in Cameron Indoor Stadium, where Dawkins and Hurley both have their jersey numbers retired.

Between his 10 seasons at Arizona State, Hurley is 165-136 overall. The 53-year-old's current Sun Devils aim to get back on the right track following back-to-back losses to Kansas and the Baylor Bears.

This article first appeared on Duke Blue Devils on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: