Ahead of No. 9 Duke men’s basketball’s huge encounter with No. 2 Auburn in Cameron Indoor Stadium, The Chronicle previews the game with an overview, key stat, X-Factor, and three keys:

Overview 

2023-24 record: 27-8, 13-5 in the SEC

2024-25 record: 7-0

Head coach: Bruce Pearl

History: Duke leads 3-0

Last meeting: 78-72 Duke, Nov. 20, 2018

After falling in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament to No. 13-seed Yale, Pearl’s team is clearly on a mission in 2024-25. There’s a serious argument to be made that Auburn has had the best start of any team in the country. The Tigers already have wins against North Carolina, Houston and Iowa State, showing that they can defeat teams with vastly differing playstyles. 

Elite offense versus elite defense. That’s what this game will come down to, and the team that can play to its strengths will come out on top. Auburn is fifth in the country in effective field-goal percentage — a stat that weights 3-point percentage higher because those shots are worth more — with 60.6%. Meanwhile, Duke is in the middle of the road in that stat at 55.3%, good for 72nd in the nation.

On the flip side, the Blue Devils are holding teams far below their average percentages. Duke is fourth in the country with an opposing field-goal percentage of 35.2%. Auburn is less of a defensive juggernaut, allowing teams to shoot 40.3% from the field. While Broome is an elite shot-blocker, the Tigers’ lack of starting size could be an advantage for the Blue Devils.  -Jindal

X-Factor

Duke: Tyrese Proctor

After two seasons with the Blue Devils, Proctor decided to forgo his opportunity to declare for the 2024 NBA Draft and instead play his junior season with Duke. In his third campaign with the Blue Devils, the guard leads the team in 3-point attempts while maintaining the highest percentage of players with more than 10 tries. In total, his 46.9% clip from beyond the arc this season represents the best of his Duke career.

In the Blue Devils’ narrow loss to No. 1 Kansas, it was the 6-foot-6 junior who led the team in both scoring and rebounding. Proctor only attempted shots from behind the arc in the high-caliber matchup, but completed five of his seven attempts to even out sharpshooting freshman Kon Knueppel’s freezing 0-for-8 night from deep. Time will tell how Proctor’s remaining time with the Blue Devils will pan out for the NBA prospect, but the Sydney native seems determined to debunk negative claims against his game in his third season under head coach Jon Scheyer. After all, Proctor leads the Duke roster in high-intensity matchups in Cameron Indoor Stadium and will look to continue his third-year consistency against Auburn. 

Auburn: Johni Broome 

The senior big man comes off a monstrous junior season with the Tigers where he was one of the few SEC players to earn consensus All-American honors from the AP. Broome has certainly continued to let his dominance shine in his third season with Auburn as he leads the team in points, rebounds, assists and blocks. In fact, the Tigers’ 6-foot-10 powerhouse leads his conference in blocks and rebounds per game and falls at second in points. An unstoppable 23-point and 19-rebound performance from Broome led Auburn’s dismantling of then-No. 12 North Carolina in the Maui Invitational. Ultimately, the Plant City, Fla., native won the tournament’s MVP award. 

The ACC/SEC challenge represents Duke’s first ranked matchup at home, and the SEC’s most dominant big man will look to put on a show in Durham. -Colton Schwabe

3 keys

Protect the paint: The Tigers are perhaps the most dominant offense in the entire country, coming into Wednesday night’s matchup ranked first in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency according to KenPom. Most of this success comes inside the paint, as Auburn also paces the country in two-point percentage at 65.7%. On the other side, Duke totes the best defense in the nation according to KenPom, setting up a major battle down low between Wooden Award candidates Cooper Flagg and Johni Broome. Broome is averaging 20.7 points per game, and will provide likely the toughest test inside the Blue Devils will face all season. 

Start fast: In Duke’s most recent loss to Kansas, the ultimate demise came as a result of a putrid start offensively, as the Blue Devils got punched in the mouth early and fell behind to a 16-3 deficit. Despite much better play the rest of the way, the early blunders were too much to overcome, as an experienced Kansas squad was able to weather the storm even with the ejection of star center Hunter Dickinson. Against the Tigers, who are just one spot below Kansas in the AP poll, Duke cannot afford to fall behind big yet again. Thankfully for Scheyer’s group, it will be greeted by a friendly and rabid home crowd in this one, with the energy of a raucous Cameron Indoor Stadium providing an instant advantage to Duke. 

Don’t settle: In a few of its early contests, Duke has fallen into a habit of settling for threes early as opposed to trying to feed the ball inside and draw fouls or score in the paint. No game was a better example than the most recent tilt with Seattle, where the Blue Devils shot 36 threes out of 58 total shots. This trend has reared its ugly head multiple times, as it occurred in both of Duke’s losses thus far. Against an offense as high-powered as Auburn, the home team can not afford to throw away possessions, and it will be imperative that as many shots as possible come on high-percentage looks. –Caleb Dudley

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