Game Preview: Duke Blue Devils vs Pittsburgh Panthers

Next up for Duke is rematch with the University of Pittsburgh Panthers.

The Panthers, still winless in ACC, competition are very much in need of something positive but coming into Cameron is never an easy task for a struggling team - especially a young one. Currently Pitt is near the bottom of Division I competition in terms of Points scored at 64.8 and that number has diminished to 53.7 during ACC play. Pitt has elected to go with 5 freshmen on the floor during large chunks of time with their leading scorer and rebounder senior forward Ryan Luther having been shelved for the year with a stress reaction. The Panthers have struggled on both ends of the floor but have yet to give up on Coach Kevin Stallings.

Last time out the Panthers scored a season low 45 points against the vaunted Syracuse 2-3 zone in a game that saw the Orange win by 15 at home. 23 of the 45 Pitt points were score by Parker Stewart who went 8-14 for 23 points and 7-13 from beyond the arc. No other Panthers player scored more than 7, as a team Pitt shot 35% in the loss. The likelihood of Pitt going winless in the ACC is a very real possibility and with 12 games remaining and 5 of those 12 against ranked opponents, it will be a tough task to pull off a win with this squad.

Not much has changed for the Blue Devils, still a freshmen dominated team with Mavin Bagley III leading the team and the ACC in both scoring and rebounding at 22 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. Duke's lone senior, Grayson Allen, has struggled through a slump that has his numbers during ACC play fading. Grayson is averaging 15 points per game but has not reached double figure scoring in 4 straight games. Allen is also averaging 4.4 assists per game has has managed to affect the game in different ways. Gary Trent Jr. has emerged lately as Duke's best 3 point shooter with a 41% average from beyond the arc and in ACC play the freshmen is shooting 48% from 3. Wendell Carter is averaging a double-double per contest in ACC play at 12.5 and 10 rebounds. For the season Carter is averaging 13.9 points and 9.1 boards a game. The starting lineup is rounded out by point guard Trevon Duval who is averaging an ACC best 6.3 assists a game coupled with a 12.5 average in points.

Duke overcame a 13 point deficit on the road at Miami their last time out, mostly on the strength of Gary Trent Jr.'s shooting from the outside. In the game Duke suffered a 7:45 scoring drought but ended the game on a 30-9 run for the win. The Devils also committed 19 turnovers in the game which lead to 20 points off of turnovers for Miami and added to a 31 to 6 advantage in fast break points. Duke has 13 games left in the regular season currently and 7 of those 13 are home games.

The keys for Duke to be successful are pretty simple in this game:

• Keep making subtle defensive changes to improve - Duke has made subtle changes to improve its man-to-man defense, against Miami it was clear that Duke changed the way they hedged on screens and also the location of the bigs to prevent giving up the lane. Duke should continue to employ the 2-3, 3-2 and 1-2-1 zone defenses to throw teams off balance. While this team is struggling defensively with 13 more games left they could very well end up being one of the most versatile defenses the ACC.
   
• Put Pitt way early - Duke can give staters rest if it can really step on Pitt and build a good working lead going into the second half
   
• Get Grayson going - Clearly the senior is in the midst of a slump, perhaps a home game and some plays run in his direction can get Allens head back in the game. Grayson has been contributing in other areas but Duke becomes a different team with offensively they are clicking from both wings and in the middle.