Duke Basketball: Blue Devils Return Home to Take on Cards

After playing 4 of their last 5 games on the road, the Blue Devils return to Cameron Indoor to take on Louisville.

After a tough win at Clemson on Sunday afternoon, the Blue Devils will look to make it 4 wins in a row tonight against the Louisville Cardinals.

For about two years there has been a dark cloud above the Lousiville basketball team. That cloud just got darker yesterday afternoon.

The NCAA ruled that Louisville must vacate their wins from 2011-12 to 2013-14. This includes taking down the 2013 National Championship banner.

Now, this ruling does not affect anyone on their current roster, but you have to imagine they’d like to send a message one day after this ruling.

And what better message to send than defeating Duke on the road.

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The Blue Devils must treat this game like it is an NCAA Tournament games because Louisville will bring that passion and emotion tonight.

It is still uncertain whether or not the Blue Devils will have Marvin Bagley III. Bagley has not played in the last three games with a knee sprain.

In the absence of Bagley, we have seen a Grayson Allen resurgence, averaging 22.3 points.

With or without Bagley tonight, Allen will need to keep being in attack mode in order to secure victory 23.

Louisville is coming off a home loss to North Carolina 93-76. The Cards were led in that game by their leading scorer on the season, Deng Adel.

Adel came off the bench against the Heels since he was just returning from an ankle injury. He played 30 minutes on Saturday, so he should be back in the starting lineup, unbothered by that ankle.

The Cardinals have three players who average double figures in points, Adel at 15.7, Quentin Synder with 12.1, and Ray Spalding adding 11.7.

The Duke defense also has been outstanding in the absence of Bagley, allowing only 59.3 points per game.

Tonight will be a step up in offensive class for the Duke defense, so a strong defensive effort tonight will go a long way for the Blue Devils.

There are few teams in the country that can match the talent level of Duke, and Louisville isn’t one of them.

Prediction: Duke 81 Louisville 70