Texas Tech basketball: Scouting the Duke Blue Devils
Duke wants to win games with their offense
This game will be the ultimate contrast in styles. That’s because it will pit the best defensive team in the country against one of the best offensive teams in the NCAA.
Duke enters averaging 80.2 points per game. That’s 8th-best in the country. In fact, 18 times this year, they have surpassed the 80-point mark in a game.
They are a tough team to guard because they have five players averaging in double figures including Banchero who is putting up 17 points, 7.9 boards, and 3.2 assists per outing. And what could be one of the keys to this game is the fact that Duke shoots it well from outside.
Hitting at 37% from beyond the 3-point arc as a team, they rank 35th nationally. The two players Tech must identify as shooters are Moore (41.3% from 3-point range) and Griffin (45.5%).
But on the flip side, this isn’t a Duke team that appears all the interested in guarding for an entire game. In fact, they have given up an average of 67.2 points per game, good for just 121st nationally. What’s more, their KenPom.com defensive rating is 95.6 which is only 45th best in the game.
"“The thing that waned at the end [of the regular season] was a lack of practice time.” Coach K said prior to the start of the NCAA Tournament. “I thought our guys got worn out and we compensated by trying not to wear them out as a result. I thought our defense really took a dip. Before this next game, we have to get back to playing Duke defense. We’ll have a better chance of winning if we can do that.”"
In seven of their last twelve games prior to the tournament, Duke allowed an opponent to hit the 70-point mark, a number that is significant because Tech averages 72.1 points per game and will likely need to get to that number at minimum to win this contest.
The Red Raider guards will likely have to come up big tonight because on the perimeter is where Duke struggles most defensively. Having the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in the middle in the form of Williams, Duke feels confident in their ability to protect the rim and that could make life difficult for Tech’s leading scorer, Bryson Williams.
But the young Blue Devil guards often get lost when trying to switch screens and they struggle at times to contest open jumpers. So the question to ask is whether or not Tech will be able to make enough outside shots to exploit Duke’s defensive flaws.