After a week off to concentrate on finals, No. 2 Duke will play its first game since its statement win against then-No. 2 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis. The Blue Devils come into the contest behind only unanimous No. 1 Kentucky in the AP Poll and with one of the best offenses in the country.
Duke faces off with Elon at Cameron Indoor Stadium Monday at 7 p.m looking to remain unbeaten before heading to New Jersey for a contest with reigning national champion Connecticut. We get you ready for tonight's game by breaking down a player on each team that could make the difference; check back with the Blue Zone to find out the x-factor before every Duke basketball game this season.
Duke: guard Quinn Cook
Duke should have no problem handling the frontcourt in this contest thanks to center Jahlil Okafor. At 6-foot-11 and 270 pounds, Okafor is four inches taller and 50 pounds heavier than any Elon starter, meaning he should be able to have his way in the paint Monday night and have a big game on his birthday.
The real matchups to watch will be between the guards of both teams and senior Quinn Cook will the man to watch for the Blue Devils. The co-captain from Washington, D.C., is second on the squad in points and assists per game with 15.3 and 3.6, respectively, and is second on the team—discounting Marshall Plumlee’s spectacular trey in the waning moments against Presbyterian—in three-point field goal percentage despite attempting twice as many triples than anyone else.
Cook has served as one of the more potent offensive threats on a team with the second-best offense in the country behind only BYU. But he has also been a large part of the tremendous improve the Blue Devils have seen on the defensive side of the court. Last season, Duke ranked 92nd in the country in scoring defense, allowing 67.4 points per game. This year, the Blue Devils have gotten more active when they do not have the ball and have locked down both the interior and perimeter much more effectively leading to a 60.5 points allowed per game average.
With the guards leading the attack for the Phoenix, Cook and company will need to be able to use their quick hands to create turnovers and their feet to get in position to defend the outside shot. As the only senior on a young squad, Cook will need to continue in this game to lead by example and hustle up and down the court, defending with 100 percent effort and not letting Elon’s guards have any breathing room.
Elon: guard Luke Eddy
The sophomore guard lost his starting spot in head coach Matt Matheny’s line up after the first two games of the year, but he has been anything but idle coming off the bench for the Phoenix. The Charleston, W.Va., native is coming off the best performance of his young career, a 27-point outing in a loss to Missouri last Thursday.
Although he does not shoot it often, Eddy has been efficient with the deep ball, shooting 50.0 percent from beyond the arc on the season, the best mark on the team. His 13.6 points per game also lead his squad. In fact, the backcourt is where the Phoenix derive most of their strength offensively; the three highest scorers for Elon are all guards with junior Tanner Samson and freshman Elijah Bryant just behind Eddy with 13.3 and 11.4 points per game, respectively.
The Phoenix are at a tremendous disadvantage in the frontcourt due to their lack of size and with Okafor’s domination of the interior for the Blue Devils almost a foregone conclusion, it will be up to the guards, particularly Eddy, to give Elon a chance in this contest. If the backcourt cannot knock down three-pointers at a high rate and Duke finds a way to stifle the scoring production from the Phoenix backcourt, it could be a long night in Cameron for Elon.
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