No. 15 Duke's non-conference slate comes to a close Wednesday afternoon when they take on Long Beach State at 4 p.m. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Blue Devils are coming off one their best offensive showings of the season as they scored 70 points in the first half to rout Elon Monday. Here are three keys to the game:
Jump ahead early
In its last victory, Duke used a 35-8 run in the middle of the first half to put away the Phoenix by halftime. The Blue Devils could benefit from starting fast once again with the team in the midst of a stretch of three games in six days and conference play right around the corner.
Opening up a big lead against the 49ers will invigorate the Crazies and may even cause Long Beach State to fold as the team has already lost by double-digits twice to ranked opponents. Building an early advantage will also give head coach Mike Krzyzewski the opportunity to find minutes for freshman Chase Jeter—who has brought energy off the bench, but is still raw and inexperienced.
Keep the offense rolling
After a nine-day break, the Blue Devils had no trouble shaking off the rust and scoring points in their last game. But a key for Duke going forward will be finding a way to sustain its rhythm on offense—especially as the competition gets tougher going forward.
Although getting six players to score in double-figures as they did against Elon may be a challenge, the Blue Devils have been especially tough to beat this season when they have got other involved on offense. Look for Duke to continue playing through freshman Brandon Ingram and sophomore Grayson Allen but continue to feed guard Luke Kennard—who has averaged 21 points per game in the team's last two contests.
Let the defense fuel the offense
Heading into Wednesday's contest, the Blue Devils rank 36th in the nation with a plus-3.3 turnover margin. Duke will look to continue turning defense into offense by getting out in transition off of steals and deflections in the passing lane. The 49ers average 11.6 turnovers per contest and have had even more trouble taking care of the basketball against better opponents as they have given the ball nearly 14 times a game in their eight losses.
After turning nine first-half Elon turnovers into easy buckets Monday, the Blue Devils will need to continue staying active on the defensive end and get Long Beach State into an up-and-down game that favors the more explosive Duke offense.
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