Game Preview: Duke vs Indiana - ACC-Big Ten challenge

Next up, tonight in Cameron, the now #3 ranked Blue Devils face the Indiana Hoosiers in the ACC/ BIG10 Challenge. The Blue Devils and Hoosiers have identical 5-1 records with the Hoosiers only loss coming at the hands of Arkansas on the road. Duke's loss coming at the Maui Invitational against now top ranked Gonzaga.

The Hoosiers generally start 2 freshmen in Rob Phinisee and dynamic guard Romeo Langford, they also start 2 sophomores and senior forward Juwan Morgan. Langford leads the Hoosiers in scoring at 18.5 per game and just under 6 rebounds, followed by the senior  Morgan with 17.5 and 8.8 boards. Guard Rob Phinisee leads the team in assists, averaging 4.5 per game to go along with 8 points. The Hoosiers bring size off the bench in a pair of 6'10 forwards - Evan Fitzner and De'Ron Davis.  Fitzner brings 7 points and 4 rebounds off the bench and former top 40 recruit Davis averages 6 points and just under 3 rebounds per game. The Hoosiers are currently 3rd in the nation in field goal percentage and and in the top 3rd in 3 point field goal percentage.

Duke is led in scoring by freshman R.J. Barrett who comes in averaging 22.8 points per game and 4 assists. Freshman Zion Williamson leads Duke in rebounding with a 9.5 per game average to go along with his 20 points per game. Tre Jones leads the Blue Devils in 3 point percentage at 55% (although he does not take many - only about a shot per game) and assists at 5.5 per game. Cam Reddish is Duke's volume 3 point shooter averaging 7 attempts per game and shooting a healthy 43% from beyond the arc. Reddish actually shoots better from 3 than 2 point range at this point in his young career. The Blue Devils are 9th in the national in scoring and 10th in offensive rebounding and 3rd in the nation in blocked shots.

Indiana is a team where I expect Duke to use more Javin DeLaurier than Marques Bolden, simply because of the way the Hoosiers play their "bigs". Juwan Morgan is a versatile, mobile forward with perimeter skills to compliment what he can do on the block. Justin Smith brings much of the same. If Marques Bolden does good job in the early stages of guarding on the perimeter then I expect him to stay in the game but if he's consistently beaten, giving up too much space or getting into early foul trouble then I expect DeLaurier or Jack White to get the bulk of the minutes.

The other thing Duke has to figure out an answer for is Romeo Langford. Langford can score at all levels and at 6'6 he's a tough cover. If Tre Jones is on the ball then it will fall to either Cam Reddish or R.J. Barrett both are capable but there is a huge drop off in defensive intensity from Jones to those two. They will have to either step up or I expect the assignment to go to Dukes best defender, Jones. UC Davis showed that the Hoosiers are susceptible to a good shooting team and if Duke can get hot from the perimeter this could be runaway. If the Hoosiers are able to chase Duke off the line or if Duke is having a cold night - this game becomes very competitive. I think Duke comes out and makes a statement - wanting to make amends for Maui.