Game Preview: Duke steps out of conference to take on Illinois in MSG

The Duke Blue Devils step out of conference play to battle a tough Fighting Illini squad in the SentinelOne Classic at MSG.

Illinois Fighting Illini

Coach Brad Underwood has his Illini at 17-10 on the season so far. They are 9-8 in the Big Ten Conference, good for 7th. Illinois is second in the country in rebound margin (+10.0) and rebounds per game (43.8), both top marks in the Big Ten. The Fighting Illini are the 10th-highest scoring team in the nation, averaging 83.9 points per contest, and rank sixth in the country in three-point attempts per game (30.3).

Illinois boasts a trio of high level freshmen scorers, led by Kasparas Jakucionis with 15.6 points per game. He’s also their leading assist man with 4.8 per game. Center Tomislav Ivisic, at 7’1, adds 12.5 points per game and is the team’s leading rebounder at 8.3 per contest that number has him 6th in the Big Ten in rebounding. Forward Will Riley is averaging 11.o points per game and adds 3.9 rebounds and 2.2 to the totals for Illinois. Brad Underwoods only double-figure scorer that isn’t a freshman is Kylan Boswell, who averages 10.9 points, 3.2 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game.

Duke Blue Devils

The Blue Devils lead the country in scoring margin (+20.2) and rank fifth in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (+1.73), sixth in scoring defense (60.8), sixth in effective field goal percentage (.573), seventh in field goal percentage defense (.384), 10th in rebound margin (+8.2), 22nd in three-pointers per game (10.2), 24th in field goal percentage (.486) and 32nd in assists per game (16.7) – all top marks in the ACC. Duke is the only team in the country ranked among the top-four in both offensive (2nd) and defensive efficiency (4th), according to KenPom. Duke is the only Division I team to score 80 points or more per game (81.0) and hold its opponents to fewer than 61 points per game (60.8).

Cooper Flagg tops Duke in points (511), rebounds (201), assists (103), steals (42) and blocked shots (31). Flagg became the first ACC player to amass 500 points, 100 assists and 30 blocks in the regular season in the last 25 years, reaching those numbers in 26 games (at Virginia). Flagg is the only player who ranks among the ACC’s top-10 in all five major statistical categories – scoring (3rd), rebounding (8th), assists (8th), blocks (9th), and steals (9th). Kon Knueppel ranks second behind Flagg in scoring average for Duke at 13.2 points per game along with 3.8 rebounds. Junior guard Tyrese Proctor rounds out the double figure scores for Duke at 12 points per game. Proctor has averaged 17.3 points in Duke’s last six games, while shooting 39-of-72 (.542) from the field, including 19-of-40 (.475) from three-point range. In the last nine games, Sion James has distributed 35 assists to just seven turnovers, a 5.0 assist-to-turnover ratio. James ranks third in the ACC in that category (2.8).

Final Thoughts

Duke has do well at what Illinois does well. Duke has to keep the Illini off the glass, they are one of if not the best rebounding teaming the nation. Duke is rebounding better lately – that has to continue. The Blue Devils need for their guards to keep the Illinois guards out of the paint on rebounds. Their guards, especially Kylan Boswell, do a masterful job of coming up with rebounds on both ends of the floor. Tyrese Proctor and Sion James have to help the Duke bigs in that area. Another area Duke has to continue to do well is in transition defense. Duke has been great here all season, but Illinois is a pace pushing team, and the Blue Devils may need to surrender some of those offensive rebounds they would normally corral in order to make sure they make the Illini play against a set defense.

Defensively Duke will need to by physical against the Illini team, they are a team that averages 12 turnovers per game and I think ball pressure could really be an advantage in this game for the Blue Devils, but they also have to be mindful of how well a cutting team Illinois is. Offensively, I don’t worry so much about this team – but being efficient and taking good shots will also help how well they can defend Illinois.