The Duke Blue Devils come to town for a Tuesday night matchup with the Louisville Cardinals at the KFC Yum! Center. Duke (21-2,9-1) are winners of 7 straight and are ranked 2nd in the nation by both polls. Louisville (17-7,8-3) looks to get back into the win column after a heartbreaking overtime loss at Florida State on Saturday.
For Duke, they are led by the freshmen trio you’ve heard so much about. R.J. Barrett (23.1), Zion Williamson (21.8) and Cam Reddish (13.6) combine for over 58 of Duke’s 86.8 points per game. While the offense is as potent as any in the country, their defense averages 10.5 steals per gameas well and can be a real nuisance to play against. When at their best, the Blue Devils have looked unbeatable this season.
Louisville will try to bounce back after a disappointing overtime loss in Tallahassee this past weekend. The Cards turned the ball over 23 times in the loss and had no answer for Florida State’s full court pressure. Duke is the best team on Louisville’s schedule so far and likely the best team they will play all season.
There is no real formula on how to beat the Blue Devils. Duke’s only loss since Maui came at home to Syracuse after they lost starting point guard Tre Jones to injury early in the game. If you had to choose a weakness for this Duke team it would have to be the three-point shooting. The team shoots 32 percent as a whole and has been dreadful from beyond the arc in some games this season. That being said, the Blue Devils are fresh off a win at Virginia where they shot 13-21 from three.
Not many people are giving Louisville a chance in this one, and that has more to do with the opponent than with the Cards themselves. This is college basketball though, and any team can win on any night. The Yum will be rocking in Black Out mode for the game, so let’s see if Coach Mack and co. can make it a memorable night in the Bluegrass.
Prediction:
Duke 87 Louisville 75
