The Duke Blue Devils and the Georgia Southern Eagles face off on Tuesday at Cameron Indoor in college basketball action.
The Duke Blue Devils are 8-1 this season and they have win six games in a row since losing to Kentucky. Duke is averaging 86 points and they are shooting 48.4 percent from the floor while defensively they are allowing 69.3 points and their opponents are shooting 43.4 percent. Grayson Allen leads the Blue Devils averaging 21.8 and 5.3 rebounds per game. Brandon Ingram is averaging 13.7 points, Matt Jones is averaging 13.3 points, and Amile Jefferson is averaging 11.4 points and 10.3 rebounds. Duke has looked strong but they have played all of their games either at home or on neutral sites.
Georgia Southern is 3-4 this season and they are coming off of a loss that ended a two game winning streak. GSU is averaging 75 points and they are shooting 37.5 percent while defensively they are allowing 85 points and their opponents are shooting 47.7 percent. Tookie Brown leads the Eagles averaging 14.4 points per game. Ike Smith is averaging 12.6 points and 5.4 rebounds, Mike Hughes is averaging 10.7 points and 5.1 rebounds, and Jake Allsmiller is averaging 8.4 points. Georgia Southern has played five of their last six games on the road.
Duke blocks plenty of shots (50 total) and the Eagles’ top-three scorers are all guards: Tookie Brown (14.4 PPG), Ike Smith (12.6 PPG) and Mike Hughes (10.7 PPG). Georgia Southern will have to attack from the outside because it only has three players taller than 6-foot-5 and sophomore Coye Simmons is the only non-freshman of that group. The Eagles will have to hit more than 35.6 percent of their threes (season average) to knock off Duke.
A late note that may or may not have had anything with the torrid opening stretch for Duke but it could have possibly taken a toll on Amile Jefferson, who is out indefinitely with a right foot injury. He has started each game while averaging 11.4 points and a team-best 10.3 rebounds.
Given this injury, I will refer readers to my article on www.dukeblogger.com for my thoughts on the possibility of an injury occurring in the frontcourt. That said, even though the players will have to make quick adjustments to his absence, this game should be a runaway. The Eagles are very young and small, starting four guards. I see Duke coming away with a 90-63 victory.
Read the Full Preview Article at DukeBlogger.com
