Game Preview: Duke hosts Pitt in Saturday primetime matchup

The Blue Devils face off against Pitt for the second time this season. The Duke and Pitt men’s basketball programs have partnered to host the inaugural “Hoops4ALS” games to raise awareness for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) — also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

The Blue Devils won the first contest, 75-53, in Pittsburgh on Jan. 9. Duke made 9-of-17 three-pointers in the first half for a 48-23 halftime cushion and 75-53 win. Kyle Filipowski posted 26 points and 10 rebounds.

Saturday, Jan. 20 • 8:00 p.m. ET
Cameron Indoor Stadium (9,314) • Durham, NC

Series & Game Info

Overall Duke leads, 17-8
In Durham, NC Duke leads, 7-3
at Cameron Indoor Stadium Duke leads, 7-2
In Pittsburgh, PA Duke leads, 8-4
at Petersen Events Center Duke leads, 5-2
Neutral Sites Duke leads, 2-1

TV/Video Stream ACCN
Play-by-Play Wes Durham
Analyst Dan Bonner
Director Caleb Waters
Producer Will Black

Radio Blue Devil Sports Net.
Play-by-Play David Shumate
Analyst John Roth
Engineer John Rose
In Durham 96.5 FM & 620 AM
SiriusXM 84

The Teams

Pitt Panthers

Pitt enters Saturday having dropped 2 straight games with a record of 10-7 and a conference record of 1-5. The Panthers rank 36th in the country in rebounding, 23rd in blocked shots and 21st in 3-point attempts.

Blake Hinson ranks fifth in the ACC in scoring with 18.1 points per game to top the Panthers. The 6’8 senior forward leads the conference and is 11th in the nation with 3.3 three-pointers per contest. He joins a Carlton Carrington ( 13.5 ) and Ishmael Leggett (11.6) as the only double-figure scorers for the Panthers. Carrington leads the team in assists at 4.6 per game and Leggett leads the team in rebounds at 5.7 per contest.

Duke Blue Devils

The Blue Devils are 13.3 overall entering Saturday and 4-1 in ACC play and currently on an 8 game winning streak. Duke ranks seventh in the nation in both assist/turnover ratio (1.82) and fewest turnovers per game (9.2).

In his first start since an injury at Georgia Tech on Dec. 2, Tyrese Proctor registered 17 points versus the Yellow Jackets (Jan. 13) on 5-of-10 shooting from the field, including 3-of-5 from long distance, and 4-of-4 from the foul line. Proctor leads the Blue Devils in assists at 4.2 per game. In the past 10 games, Jeremy Roach has distributed 37 assists with just eight turnovers. Roach is averaging 14.6 points per game on the season so far. Among ACC leaders, Kyle Filipowski ranks fourth in scoring (18.2 ppg), fifth in rebounding (8.9 rpg), fourth in blocked shots (1.9 bpg) and eighth in field goal percentage (.517). Flipowski leads the Blue Devils both scoring and rebounding. Jared McCain and Mark Mitchell round out the double-figure scoring for the Blue Devils averaging 11.7 and 12.2 points per game respectively.

Thoughts

From the first game preview:

The Blue Devils will once again need to stress the details of defending the 3-point line against the Panthers. Pitt is 20th in the country in three point attempts and 30th in makes. They are very willing to launch 30-50 3-point shots a game and the Blue Devils need to be mindful of that. Duke especially needs to be aware of Blake Hinson who is a 40% 3-point shooter as well as Guillermo Diaz Graham who shoots it at a 35% clip but is capable of getting hot. Diaz will likely be guarded by Kyle Filipowski so Flip will need to play him as if he’s a guard. That doesn’t mean Diaz Graham will not drive the ball, the 7ft forward has an extraordinary wingspan and is a fluid driver from outside the post. Duke has to pay extra special attention to corner 3’s off of penetration – Pitt can make a living there if the Blue Devil defense is slow or miscommunicates.

Carlton “Bub” Carrington has been named ACC Freshman of the week 4-times and is a tough shot maker. Carrington is not proficient at the 3 but is a very streaky shooter capable of railing off a few in a row. Limiting the freshman guard will be a tough assignment for the Blue Devils’ guard core.

Additional thoughts after the first game:

The Blue Devils defense ruled the day against Pitt in the first matchup. The Blue Devils were able to hold the Panthers to just 32.8% shooting for the game. The Blue Devils also out-rebounded a very good Pitt team 42-26. Conversely, the Blue Devils offense was on fire, shooting 51.8% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc. The Blue Devils owned the points-ion-the-paint matchup with a 32-12 advantage.

For the Blue Devils, not looking for a knockout punch early is important. It’s very easy to press when you aren’t seeing the lead against a team you feel you should beat grow fast enough. The Blue Devils need to be patient, efficient and steady. Run things through Filipowski, who has shown when he is doubled he can find the open man. Taking good 3’s is always better than settling for them. Each of Duke’s guards has shown the ability to hit open 3’s if they are taken in rhythm and when those shots aren’t available – Filipowski in the paint or Jeremy Roach on drives.