It seems the Duke Blue Devils are as advertised with a hefty 9-1 record with the ACC title already in their sights.
The Blue Devils can score and defend which we saw during their seven game winning streak that was capped off by an 84-74 victory over SEC power Florida as a 7.5 point favorite on Tuesday where a ten point margin at the break held up. Duke limited the Gators to 43% from the floor and countered at 53%, which was good for six more buckets then UF. Luke Kennard gave the Blue Devils a game high 29 points on 11-16 with 24 points and 15 rebounds coming from Amile Jefferson while Jason Tatum netted 22 points and snagged eight boards.
In its last game, Duke leaned heavily on the hot-shooting Luke Kennard and the imposing Amile Jefferson against the Gators. Kennard pounded out 29 points on the strength of an 11-for-16 shooting from the field, which includes five treys on seven attempts. Kennard is surprisingly the best scorer on the talent-laden Duke squad, as he is averaging 20.4 PPG on 52.2% FG%. Jefferson, meanwhile, had 24 points and 15 rebounds to go with four blocks in a terrific display of two-way basketball.
The talent goes deeper than just Kennard and Jefferson with the likes of Grayson Allen and Jayson Tatum also on the roster. Tatum came off the bench in the Florida game and poured in 22 points.
This depth is going to be hard to match for the Rebels, whose 200th I ranked defense is about to face Duke’s offense that is manufacturing 85.5 PPG and is ranked No. 1 by KenPom in terms of adjusted offensive efficiency.
The experts say the UNLV Rebels are not going to challenge in the Mountain West and are in more of a rebuilding mode then anything. The Rebels are 5-3 and have been all over the map and hard to pin down. UNLV comes off of a 97-73 defeat at the hands of Arizona State Saturday as seven point underdog. The Rebels trailed by 19 after 20 minutes and could get no closer on 39% shooting while the Sun Devils connected at 49% and sank 18-36 from beyond the arc. UNLV leaned On Jalen Poyser and his 20 points with Tyrell Green pumped in 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds. The Rebels received 12 points from Kris Clyburn and Dwayne Morgan contributed eleven points and nine boards.
The Rebels will look to avoid losing to another group of devils this Saturday, as they host Mike Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils this Saturday. UNLV was denied of a three-game win streak last week, when it lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils 97-73 last week.
The Rebels simply had barely anything going for them on offense against Arizona State. They shot 38.9% from the field and went just 6-for-22 on their threes. They were already behind by 19 at the half and weren’t able to cut the deficit down to a single digit the rest of the way. Defensively, the Rebels let Arizona State hit 18 threes and shoot 49.2% from the field overall.
UNLV doesn’t have the firepower that Duke has so it will have to avoid engaging the Blue Devils in a shootout. Slowing down the game’s pace and winning the rebounding battle would be crucial for the Rebels, who are 51st in Division I ball with 40.1 rebounds per game. Jalen Poyser, who scored 20 points against Arizona State, is the Rebels’ leading scorer this season with 17.5 PPG.
Endgame
As with the Florida game, UNLV is facing a Duke team that is close to being 100 percent healthy. Tatum and Bolden add more size and depth to a team that was playing with six and seven players. UNLV does not have the offensive firepower to keep up with a team that is now loaded with talent and experience. Therefore, I see Duke pulling away for a 87-62 victory.
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