Blue Devils Going With Semi-Jinxed Jerseys at Pitt

Originally posted on Duke Blue Devils on SI
By Matt Giles | Last updated Jan 9, 2024 7:40 PM ET

On Tuesday afternoon, the Duke basketball social media team revealed that the 11th-ranked Blue Devils (11-3, 2-1 ACC) will wear the black away jerseys for their road matchup against unranked Pitt (10-5, 1-3 ACC) at 9 p.m. ET (ESPN).

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Duke has donned this getup in only one matchup this season: the 80-75 loss at Arkansas as part of the ACC/SEC Challenge on Nov. 29.

And according to a post from Duke Update, the program is only 8-8 in the black jerseys since the 2019-20 campaign and 14-12 since 2017-18.

Granted, they're typically reserved for primetime road outings, meaning their appearance often coincides with some of the Blue Devils' toughest regular season tests. In other words, one could argue that a record hovering around .500 isn't all that disappointing in light of the atmospheres and strength of opponents for such games.

As Duke Update added, one group that fared well in them was the 2018-19 Duke basketball team, featuring five-star freshmen Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett, Cam Reddish, and Tre Jones. Those Blue Devils went 6-2 in black, sparking a famous quote by RJ Barrett following their win at eventual national champion Virginia:

"We love road games. That's why we wear black, because it's their funeral."

Against Pitt, the black will either be the burial of Duke's feel-good overall winning streak or mark only the second time in Jon Scheyer's two years as head coach that his Blue Devils enjoy a two-game winning streak in true road games.

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

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