1977–78 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team

American college basketball season March 2026 August 2023 Basketball 1977–78 Duke Blue Devils Duke Blue Devils basketball mark.svg 125 Atlantic Coast Conference ACC 9 7 27–7 8–4 Bill Foster 4th Bob Wenzel Lou Goetz Ray Jones Jim Spanarkel Jim Spanarkel Cameron Indoor Stadium NCAA tournament, runner-upACC Tournament champions National Championship Game L Lost 88-94 vs. Kentucky The 1977–78 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team represented Duke University. The head coach was Bill Foster. The team played its home games in the Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina, and was a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. They advanced through the NCAA tournament to the championship game, where they lost to the Kentucky Wildcats by a score of 94–88. Schedule yes November 26, 1977 Johns Hopkins Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 95–49 1–0 yes November 29, 1977 Washington College Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 110–66 2–0 December 2, 1977 North Carolina 2 yes Big Four Tournament Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, N.C. 66–79 2–1 December 3, 1977 Wake Forest 18 yes Big Four Tournament Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, N.C. 97–84 3–1 yes December 8, 1977 SMU yes Dallas, Texas 91–67 4–1 yes December 10, 1977 Southern California yes Los Angeles, Calif. 81–87 OT 4–2 yes December 13, 1977 Chicago Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 99–61 5–2 yes December 28, 1977 Duquesne yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, N.C. 74–65 6–2 yes December 29, 1977 Saint Joseph's yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, N.C. 74–61 7–2 yes January 2, 1978 Virginia Tech yes Blacksburg, Va. 86–79 8–2 January 4, 1978 Maryland yes College Park, Md. 88–78 9–2 January 7, 1978 NC State yes Reynolds Coliseum Raleigh, N.C. 50–74 9–3 yes January 9, 1978 Lehigh Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 105–63 10–3 January 11, 1978 Clemson yes Clemson, S.C. 107–85 11–3 January 14, 1978 North Carolina 2 Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 92–84 12–3 January 18, 1978 17 Wake Forest Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 81–72 13–3 yes January 21, 1978 17 La Salle yes Spectrum Philadelphia, Pa. 91–81 14–3 January 25, 1978 11 Virginia 18 yes Charlottesville, Va. 73–74 14–4 yes January 28, 1978 11 East Carolina Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 105–82 15–4 February 2, 1978 17 Wake Forest yes Winston-Salem, N.C. 60–79 15–5 February 8, 1978 Virginia 13 Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 100–75 16–5 February 11, 1978 Davidson Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 104–88 17–5 February 15, 1978 20 NC State Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 76–64 18–5 February 18, 1978 20 Maryland Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 81–70 19–5 February 22, 1978 13 Clemson Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, N.C. 78–62 20–5 February 25, 1978 13 North Carolina 8 yes Chapel Hill, N.C. 83–87 20–6 March 1, 1978 15 Clemson yes ACC tournament Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, N.C. 83–72 21–6 March 2, 1978 15 Maryland yes ACC Tournament Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, N.C. 81–69 22–6 March 4, 1978 15 Wake Forest yes ACC Tournament Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, N.C. 85–77 23–6 yes March 12, 1978 8 Rhode Island yes NCAA East First round Charlotte Coliseum Charlotte, N.C. 63–62 24–6 yes March 17, 1978 7 Pennsylvania 20 yes NCAA East Regional semifinal Providence Civic Center Providence, R.I. 84–80 25–6 March 19, 1978 7 Villanova yes NCAA East Regional Final Providence Civic Center Providence, R.I. 90–72 26–6 yes March 25, 1978 7 Notre Dame 6 yes NCAA Final Four Checkerdome St. Louis, Mo. 90–86 27–6 yes March 27, 1978 7 Kentucky 1 yes NCAA Championship Checkerdome St. Louis, Mo. 88–94 27–7 Source: Duke Athletics2019–20 Duke MBB Media Guide https://goduke.com/documents/2019/10/14/Full_Guide.pdf Duke Athletics Duke University 30 June 2020 174 en PDF 14 October 20191977–78 Men's Basketball Schedule https://goduke.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule/1977-78 Duke Athletics Duke University 4 July 2020 en Team players drafted into the NBA No one from the men's basketball team was selected in the 1978 NBA draft. However, Jim Spanarkel was drafted 16th overall in the 1979 NBA draft. Also, Mike Gminski was picked 7th overall in the 1980 NBA Draft, and Gene Banks and Kenny Dennard were picked 28th and 78th in the 1981 NBA draft, respectively.http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1978&lg=N 1978 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com 2009-05-04 usurped https://web.archive.org/web/20100318002242/http://www.databasebasketball.com/draft/draftyear.htm?yr=1978&lg=N 2010-03-18 References Duke Blue Devils Category:Duke Blue Devils men's basketball seasons Category:NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament Final Four seasons Duke Category:1977 in sports in North Carolina Category:1978 in sports in North Carolina Category:Long stubs with short prose