As has been routine so far this season, Duke will have little time to regroup before its next game after a 91-81 victory at Indiana Wednesday night, which saw 10 lead changes and a four-point deficit in the second half.
Now, No. 1 Duke has just two days to prepare for a home contest against South Dakota Saturday at 3:30 p.m at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Blue Devils have exhibited a lot of toughness during their nine-game win streak in the first 20 days of the season, forcing Duke to stay mentally and physically strong. With five of Duke's first nine games taking place away from Cameron, the Blue Devils have shown poise in unfamiliar environments all season and will bring their chemistry back to Durham Saturday for the first time in nearly two weeks.
“It was different for me,” freshman Marvin Bagley III said of Wednesday's ACC/Big Ten Challenge game. “We go to these tournaments and you get fans from everywhere and every team. But it was mostly Indiana fans. They were loud and cheering for their team, and it was a great game and environment.”
Duke (9-0) has a two-game home stretch before beginning ACC play at Boston College next weekend, and the undefeated Blue Devils will use the game against the Coyotes to take a step back and work on improving some of their weaknesses that have surfaced in close wins for the last week.
A young Duke team has struggled to find consistency with its shot, going 3-of-17 from 3-point land in Bloomington, Ind., which rivaled the team’s 3-of-18 shooting from beyond the arc in a nail-biting game against Texas during the PK80 Invitational.
Starting freshmen Trevon Duval and Gary Trent Jr. both shot worse than 50 percent from the field against Indiana, and Trent matched his 0-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line against Texas. Trent was able to score at a vital time during the Indiana game, though, hitting two crucial free throws followed by an and-one that allowed the Blue Devils to pull away from a scrappy Hoosier team.
“I’m proud of him because freshmen, if they’re not hitting, they can go, ‘That’s it. It’s not a good day,’” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “But that’s not him. We have a really good group.”
Despite its inconsistency and struggles with transition defense throughout the beginning of the season, Duke big men Bagley and Wendell Carter Jr. and senior leader Grayson Allen have kept the team grounded.
Bagley has posted double-doubles in seven of the team’s nine games, racking up 30 or more points and 15 rebounds in both of the last two games in last weekend's PK80 Invitational. A quieter game for the exhausted Bagley against Indiana was still a 23-point, 10 rebound performance.
“They doubled a lot and I had to make the right passes out of the post and just play basketball,” Bagley said.
Allen has also been Duke’s rock throughout the season, stepping up to be a vocal leader and facilitating plays to feed the ball inside to his freshmen teammates.
The Blue Devils will face a Coyote team that only has two players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Matt Mooney with 18.3 points per game. All five of Duke's starters in a lineup that has remained unchanged all season are averaging at least 10 points per contest.
South Dakota (6-2) has not faced an opponent close to Duke's caliber yet this season, but challenged TCU in a five-point loss Nov. 15. The Coyotes have just two players taller than 6-foot-8 and will struggle to rebound against the Blue Devils' tall frontcourt.
For Duke, the game offers a chance to put together a consistent 40 minutes and for the first time since it left home before Thanksgiving.
The Blue Devils will have some much-needed rest after the South Dakota game, with two games next week followed by 11 days off for exams.
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