Following a blowout win against Princeton, Duke travels to Madison Square Garden to take on No. 12 Texas Tech. The Blue Zone breaks down three aspects of the game that could tilt the contest in the Blue Devils’ last game before conference play:
Cam Reddish needs to regain shooting touch
A simple scan of the box score proves that Cam Reddish has not been shooting the ball well recently.
In his last three games, Reddish is a combined 9-for-35 from the field, for an abysmal 25.7 percent conversion rate—this includes a 4-for-22 mark from beyond the arc from who was expected to produce the most from outside at the start of the season.
If the freshman forward can find his stroke, the Blue Devils will be nearly impossible to stop, even for a top- ranked defense. R.J. Barrett is on a hot streak, Zion Williamson has put up very strong performances consistently and the bench is scoring when called upon.
Cam Reddish will need to improve his shooting if he is to turn into the consistent scoring threat the Blue Devils need him to be. He has proven himself to be more than capable in the past, dropping 22 and 25 against Kentucky and Army in the first two games of the season. He simply must return to this form if No. 2 Duke hopes to put away the Red Raiders before returning home for the holidays.
Keep up the strong defense
Duke’s defensive play has been phenomenal in the past few contests, and must continue against a tougher opponent if the Blue Devils wish to leave New York City with a win on Thursday.
In the last four games, Duke has not given up more than 58 points— and kept its opponents to low totals primarily through a strong paint presence. Duke registered its highest block total on the season Tuesday night, with 14, including a game-high 4 from Marques Bolden. With the three-guard lineup that Texas Tech has used thus far, continued strength inside will be a deciding factor at The World’s Most Famous Arena.
The Red Raiders fly to New York with a strong defense as well. Ranked first in adjusted defensive efficiency on KenPom.com, Texas Tech will look to slow the game down against a Duke team that thrives off pace-pushing transition offense. If the Red Raiders can continue to find success on the back half of the court, they very well could walk out with a win.
Prove to be consistent from the free-throw line
Performance from the charity stripe on Thursday will likely dictate the outcome of the ball game.
These two teams are primed to take a lot of free throws— Duke with its big-bodied offense pushing into the paint against a highly-touted defense, and Texas Tech with a fast lineup against a Blue Devil team that has sent someone to the bench early in the first half due to foul trouble nearly every game.
For Duke, this has been a problematic aspect of the game for most of the season. However, against Princeton, the team drained 84 percent of its free throws, quelling the fears of fans that believed the team was doomed to shoot below 70 percent for the whole year. This included a 4-for-5 and 5-for-6 performance from Barrett and Williamson, respectively, the two most fouled players on the team. If they can replicate this against the Red Raiders, it could push Duke over the edge.
Texas Tech is shooting 68.5 percent from the line on the season, three and a half points above the Blue Devils’ average. If this translates to a couple more points for the Red Raiders, the scales could tilt in their favor— look for free-throw shooting to play a large role in the outcome of the contest tonight.
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