The top-ranked offense of the Duke Blue Devils (17-6) welcome the 187th-ranked defense of the No. 19-ranked Louisville Cardinals (19-4). The game starts at 7:00 pm ET on Monday, February 8 and can be seen on ESPN and ESPN3.
The Blue Devils were victorious over North Carolina State 88-80 on Saturday. Grayson Allen led all scorers on the team with 28 points on 6-for-11 shooting. The Cardinals are coming off a 79-47 win over Boston College on Saturday. Trey Lewis led the game in scoring with 16 points on 3-for-6 shooting.
Look for some minor adjustments from the Devils, especially regarding that perimeter defense because allowing 50 percent shooting from the perimeter is not good enough when you are facing the upper half of a rugged ACC.
That said, a great week for Duke. Losing or even splitting this week’s games could have been disastrous. Instead, Duke finds itself smack dab in the middle of the conversation of the best conference in all of college basketball.
Has anyone heard me talk about parity before? Nah, it is not just there. Well folks, based on just these conference standings parameters, if this not parity, then please let me know what is. Hell, you could add in the lower half and still make a case. I am just kidding a bit, but seriously, though, you cannot argue much with these numbers. The only outlier is Clemson’s RPI ranking of 83.
This matchup pits one of the nation’s top offenses against one of its elite defenses, as Duke currently ranks first in offensive efficiency and Louisville is third in defensive efficiency. The Cardinals could also control the offensive glass in this matchup, as they rank second in the nation in OR% at 41.7%. The Blue Devils, meanwhile, place near the bottom of the nation (311th) on the defensive backboards with a DR% of 66.9%.
The Blue Devils have one of the most prolific home offenses in the entire nation, averaging 87.5 points per game. The Blue Devils are an exceptional shooting team from the line with 18.0 free throws made per game, one of the highest marks in Division I. Duke is one of the most disciplined teams in the nation with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.39. Over their past 10 games, the Duke defense has been playing lights out, only allowing 63.0 points per game, well under their season average of 71.6. Opponents have consistently had their shots rejected by the Blue Devils, ranking 37th in the country in blocks per game with 5.0.
The Cardinals rank 45th in the country in scoring, averaging 79.0 points per game. The Cardinals have controlled the glass with an average of 40.6 rebounds per game, 30th in the country. The last 10 games have really brought the worst out of the Cardinals on the defensive end. They allowed 73.3 points per game during that span, which is higher than their season average of 59.8. When it comes to defending the rim, the Cardinals are one of the best in the nation with an average of 5.0 blocks per game.
