The No. 20 Blue Devils will go for their sixth-straight win Saturday when they hit the road to take on 18th-ranked Louisville. Duke will be looking to build on its thrilling win against North Carolina but will be short-handed with guard Matt Jones out with a left ankle sprain. The Cardinals on the other hand will be hunting for their first victory against the Blue Devils since joining the ACC last season. Here are the three keys to the game:
Get contributions from the other guards
Duke showed incredible toughness Wednesday night to come from behind in a win against a talented Tar Heel team in Chapel Hill. After the Blue Devils lost Jones just eight minutes into the contest, sophomore Grayson Allen and freshman Brandon Ingram stepped up in a big way, combining for 43 points and 17 rebounds.
The Blue Devils will need another strong offensive performance from its underclassmen Saturday to challenge Louisville’s stalwart defense. The Cardinals have managed to hold opponents to an average of just 60.7 points per game this season, making Louisville the seventh-best scoring defense in the country. Perhaps the biggest key for Duke will be preserving the rhythm it has shown on offense in recent games and getting solid contributions from the freshmen tandem of Luke Kennard and Derryck Thornton.
The Cardinals strength defensively makes it hard to imagine that Ingram and Allen will be able to score at will all afternoon. Without productive outings from Kennard and Thornton, the Blue Devils may not be able to generate enough points to get the win.
Keep up with Damion Lee
Lee is Louisville’s most potent offensive weapon with averages of 16.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game this season. The 6-foot-6 swingman has been known to step up big in the biggest games of the season for his team. The Baltimore native scored 24 points against then-No. 2 North Carolina last week and a season-high 27 points in his team’s annual rivalry battle with Kentucky. Lee sports terrific off-ball movement and the ability to just straight up blow by defenders with the ball in his hand, making him a difficult assignment for any Duke player.
The Blue Devils ability to contain Lee will be further limited with Jones' absence. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has said that there is no timetable for Jones’ return, but one thing is for certain—Duke will have its hands full dealing with Lee with a depleted backcourt.
Fight fatigue
There are lots of ways to get tired. The Blue Devils are going to have to do more with less now that Jones is questionable going forward and Krzyzewski has resorted to essentially a five-man rotation, with Chase Jeter also getting a handful of minutes each game. With so much being demanded of the players physically, they run the risk of running out of steam during pivotal stretches in the second half.
But Duke has been really, really good at making sure this does not happen. Playing with a bare-bones roster against the Tar Heels Wednesday, the Blue Devils were able gut out a win, despite having little to no bench. But there is still the risk of getting emotionally tired. That win at the Dean Dome was thrilling and it required a number of Duke players to step up and shoulder a bigger load than they were used to. Now, those same players are going to be asked to step up again only three days later. In order to walk out of Louisville, Ky., with a win the Blue Devils will need to show poise on the road and avoid an emotional hangover. If Duke can stay within striking distance as it has done well during this winning streak, the skill of Allen and Ingram could be enough to get the team over the hump with the game on the line
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