Following a resounding victory on the road against Syracuse, Duke men’s basketball returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on Louisville Monday. The Blue Zone has three keys for the Blue Devils to extend their winning streak:
Limit El Ellis
Basketball is a team sport, with five players working in conjunction to execute a game plan. Nevertheless, Louisville’s offense runs through senior guard El Ellis, and he will be its most important player. The Cardinals rank last in the ACC in a plethora of offensive categories, including points per game and assist-to-turnover ratio. However, Louisville’s star point guard is a potent offensive threat that can score from all three levels. The Durham native is returning to his hometown with hopes of spoiling Duke’s undefeated home streak. Ellis is scoring 18.0 points per game this season, the only player on the Cardinals’ roster to average double digits. He can get hot from deep at any point, connecting on three triples in each of his past three games. Ellis is coming off of a 28-point performance in Louisville’s 83-73 victory against Clemson where he shot 60% from the field. In his previous two games against Virginia and Miami, Ellis scored 21 and 33 points, respectively. Although his scoring has been inconsistent, any player that has the ability to produce at his level is a scary matchup for the Blue Devils. The senior guard played 39 minutes against both Clemson and Virginia, so look for Duke to throw a lot of fresh bodies at Ellis in hopes of wearing him out.
Connect from deep
For the most part, Duke has struggled to shoot from behind the arc, entering the Syracuse game with a 32.3% clip from deep. Orange head coach Jim Boeheim’s signature 2-3 zone forced the Blue Devils to shoot from three, and that they did. Duke knocked down a remarkable 13 triples en route to an emphatic 77-55 victory. Although most teams in the ACC do not primarily use zone defenses, head coach Jon Scheyer’s squad has faced periods of zone from multiple opponents. For the most part, the Blue Devils have excelled in the pick-and-roll offense against a man-to-man defense, and the emergence of freshmen bigs Dereck Lively II as a lob threat and Kyle Filipowski as a stretch four has given teams trouble. Despite this, Duke has faced stagnant spells offensively due to poor shooting. If freshmen Dariq Whitehead and Mark Mitchell and graduate transfer Jacob Grandison can produce from three, it will force opponents to decide between allowing easier driving lanes or leaving capable shooters open. The Cardinals give up the ACC’s third-highest 3-point percentage, so shooting from deep will be key for Duke against Louisville and will add a helpful wrinkle to its offense for the future.
Do not underestimate the Cardinals
On paper, Duke is a much more talented team than Lousivlle, and will be heavily favored against a team with a 2-14 conference record. However, if this week was any indication, records mean next to nothing in ACC play. Notre Dame came into Cameron Indoor Stadium with a 2-12 conference record, and if not for a Mitchell corner triple, might have walked away with the victory. Louisville is bringing up the rear in the ACC, but Duke would be remiss to overlook this team and sleepwalk through the contest. The Cardinals have been pesky recently, besting Clemson on Saturday and nearly defeating the top two ACC teams, Virginia and Miami, last week. Louisville led for the majority of the first half against the Cavaliers, and if the Blue Devils let the Cardinals hang around, do not be shocked if this game goes down to the wire. Louisville has nothing to lose and will put it all on the line against Duke. It will be imperative for the Blue Devils to get off to a fast start and suffocate the Cardinals using their strength: tenacious defense.
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Ranjan Jindal is a Trinity junior and sports editor of The Chronicle's 120th volume.