Let's take a look at Duke's matchup against Virginia Tech.
The Duke Blue Devils have gotten off to a great start this year, as they are 12-1 and have won their last 10 games in a row, but they have played poorly of late. They come in off an 11 point win over Elon, but they were 26 point favorites in that game, while in the game before that, they were 28 point home favorites vs. Tennessee State and they won that game by just 10.
They better fix this as they are now into ACC play. Duke shot just 36.5% vs. Elon, including just 25% from long range and those are not numbers that we have been used to seeing from Duke over the years. This team is always a good shooting team and they have been a good one this year overall, but struggled vs. Elon. Leading the attack was Luke Kennard, who had 21 points, while 2nd was Jayson Tatum with 18 and 3rd Amile Jefferson with 13. Kennard is the team’s leading scorer at 20.4 PPG, while Grayson Allen is 2nd at 16.0 PPG, but he is out indefinitely due to suspension. They will need him back on the court the deeper they get into ACC play and is one of the better players in the league.
Duke checks in at 31st in the nation in scoring, putting up 83.5 PPG, while also ranking 39th in FG% (48.3%), 162nd in 3-point shooting (35.5%) and 57th in free throw shooting (74.1%). At the defensive end of the floor they have been solid as they come in ranked 22nd in points allowed, giving up 61.8 PPG, while also ranking 53rd in defensive FG% (39.4%) and 11th in 3-point defense (28.3%).
The Virginia Tech Hokies are off to a nice 11-1 start and while they have been playing cupcakes of late, they also own a road win over Michigan, a home win over Ole Miss and neutral site wins over Nebraska and New Mexico. Now it gets real for them as they have entered ACC play and will start off with one of the top teams in the nation.
This game will tell a lot about just how good the Hokies are. They come in off an 87-70 win over MD Baltimore County, which was their 7th win in a row after their lone loss, which was a 68-65 loss at the Hands of Texas A&M. Leading the attack against MDBC was Chris Clark, who had 22 points, while 2nd was Ahmed Hill with 18 and 3rd was Seth Allen, with 17. They had five players put up at least 12 points in this game, while the rest of the team had a total of four points. The Hokies go about eight deep, with all eight averaging at least 6.1 PPG and five of them putting up at least 10.8 PPG. Leading the team in scoring so far has been Zach LeDay at 16.7 PPG, while 2nd is Ahmed Hill at 14.9 PPG and 3rd is Justin Robinson at 11.2 PPG.
The Hokies enter this game ranked 29th in the nation in scoring, putting up 83.8 PPG, while also ranking 25th in FG% (49.0%), 48th in 3-point shooting (39.3%) and 107th in free throw shooting (71.8%). At the defensive end of the floor they have been solid as they come in ranked 91st in points allowed, giving up 67.4 PPG, while also ranking 83rd in defensive FG% (40.5%) and 55th in 3-point defense (30.3%).
Endgame
Duke will be Virginia Tech’s toughest opponent to date and it begins a stretch of 5 games that will find the Hokies underdogs. Duke has made a habit of coming off of lay-offs slow so there is an opportunity for Tech to make some noise and catch the Blue Devils sleeping. Duke will need to further integrate it’s new pieces as well as contend with the loss of Grayson Allen for the foreseeable future. Duke has the more talented team but are they as together as the Virginia Tech Hokies? Is Duke a more cohesive unit? That may very well be the difference maker.
The Blue Devils are a strong team once again and they are off to a 12-1 start, but the Hokies are no slouch, as their 11-1 record would indicate. Still, the Blue Devils are the better team and should win this one rather easily. Both teams have been high scoring on offense and both have been solid on defense, but still the Blue Devils have a bit more at both ends of the court and will prevail 70-65.
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