Duke started off the game against William & Mary sloppy and sluggish but turned on the offensive and defensive intensity getting shots and regaining their swagger. Duke will look to build on that against App State.
Duke should be able to go to its bench as it did against W&M and let players like Grayson Allen and Chase Jeter further heal and with the amount of minutes for Duke starters starting to add up the bench will become more crucial going forward.
The Devils will use this game to work and prepare for its matchup with Michigan State and get a good offensive flow and shore up holes in transition and post defense.
Duke is Duke. Everyone knows what they are capable of doing and that App State will be a prohibitive underdog.
Again, the Mountaineers just need to run their stuff. If they execute well they will have some success against Duke. The result on the scoreboard is not the only measure of accomplishment. Appalachian will have to recognize small victories within the war and take as many as they can.
What cannot be measured in the box score is the amount of fight that App State puts out on the floor. They have to battle and make Duke earn whatever they get. If the Mountaineers can make Duke work hard for 40 minutes there is a measure of success in that.
This said, App State is not to be overlooked as the Devils learned from the William & Mary. I feel that Duke will overwhelm the Mountaineers, 95-74.
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