The No. 5 Duke Blue Devils face a quick turnaround battling the No. 23 Louisville Cardinals in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Louisville Cardinals
Pat Kelsey is in year 2 as the head coach of Louisville. Kelsey has his Cardinals sitting at 4-3 in the ACC and 14 and 5 overall on the season. Louisville boasts the highest scoring offense in the conference, averaging 87.8 points per game (19th nationally), they lead the ACC and ranks fourth nationally with 11.9 3-pointers made per game on 33.8 attempts per contest. The Cardinals have been beating their opposition by an average of 18.2 points, which ranks ninth in the nation, they top the ACC and sit 22nd nationally with 17.8 assists per contest, while ranking 18th in the country with 41.4 rebounds per outing.
Ryan Conwell is third in the nation with an ACC-high 3.78 3-pointers per game, averaging a team-best 19.5 points. Conwell heads a group of 5 double-figure scorers for the Cardinals. Isaac McKneely averages 11.8 points per game for Louisville. Sananda Fru, a junior forward averages 10.9 points per game, to go along with a team high 7.1 rebounds, he is closely followed by J’vonne Hadley at 10.8 points her game. Freshly back after missing 8 games is freshman guard Mikel Brown, an explosive backcourt presence, who when healthy averages 16.9 points per game and is coming off a 20 point outing against Virginia Tech in his first game back.
Last Time Out:
The No. 23/21-ranked University of Louisville men’s basketball team defeated Virginia Tech 85-71 on Saturday afternoon inside the KFC Yum! Center. The Cards improve to 14-5, with a 4-3 mark in conference play, and the Hokies fall to 15-6 and 4-4 in the ACC.
Duke Blue Devils
The Blue Devils are coming off of a 35-4 season that saw them within a game of a title shot. Duke went 19-1 in conference, winning both the regular season and the ACC Tournament.
The Blue Devils welcome in a number 1 recruiting class after their Final Four run. Jon Scheyer after losing his entire starting lineup to the NBA but retaining core pieces with experience. Leading Duke are experienced returners senior big Maliq Brown and junior guard Caleb Foster, both instrumental pieces in Duke’s run this past season. Duke also returned 3 members from last season freshman class in hot shooting Isaiah Evans, who shot a team high 41.6%. Duke also brings back Darren Harris who has reshaped his body in hopes for a larger role and Patrick Ngongba who similarly has reshaped his frame, coming into this season healthy.
The Blue Devils enter the week with an 18-1 overall record and a 7-0 record in conference. Cameron Boozer leads the Blue Devils in scoring at 23.7 points per game, he leads the Blue Devils in rebounding at 9.9 per contest. In addition, averaging a double-double, Boozer leads the Blue Devils in assists at 4.1 per game. Isaiah Evans and Patrick Ngongba both are averaging double figures for Jon Scheyer’s team at 14 and 11 points per game respectively.
Last Time Out:
The fifth-ranked Duke men’s basketball team, fueled by a 32-point outing from Cameron Boozer, moved past Wake Forest, 90-69, on Saturday, Jan. 24. The Blue Devils (18-1, 7-0 ACC) out rebounded the Demon Deacons (11-9, 2-5 ACC) by a 43-22 margin, including a 16-6 effort on the offensive glass. Duke’s defense stifled an offense that entered the contest averaging nearly 81 points per game, including a stretch of nearly eight minutes in the second half when the Blue Devils’ defense did not allow a made shot.
Final Thoughts
The Cardinals have a high powered offense that has gotten better since Duke last faced them. The return of dynamic guard Mikel Brown takes the Cardinals to another level. His ability to play make, set up his teammates and volume score makes him dangerous. He can get a piece of the paint, finish and is a high level athlete. Brown is just a piece of the offense for Pat Kelsey, they also an extremely good passing team with assist numbers atop the ACC. They take and make a lot of 3’s but also rebound the basketball quite well. Duke has to guard the perimeter much better than they did against the Ville in game 1, that’s job one. They must also rebound the basketball and keep Brown out of the paint. If Duke is forced to collapse defensively it opens up the perimeter for Louisville to get the shots they want.
Offensively Duke has to protect the basketball and be selective. The pace at which Louisville plays can lure teams into speeding up. Duke will have to resist that urge and not get into a shootout with Pat Kelseys team.
