Duke Basketball: Top-15 matchup in MSG set for Blue Devils, Red Raiders
It’ll be a big time matchup in the Mecca as the Duke Basketball team will face the Texas Tech Red Raiders under the lights at Madison Square Garden.
Two Top-15 teams in the country, battling under the bright lights of Madison Square Garden, does it get much better than that?
The No. 2 Duke Blue Devils and the No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders will go to battle on Thursday night from the Mecca, as the Blue Devils will look to add yet another victory over a ranked opponent to its resume while the Red Raiders will look to stay as one of the nations only undefeated teams.
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The Blue Devils are coming off of a 101-50 victory over the Princeton Tigers on Tuesday night while Texas Tech beat Abilene Christian on Saturday, 82-48.
Head Coach Chris Beard has built his team on defense as the Red Raiders are the top team in the NCAA in total defense, holding its opponents to an average of 51.2 points per game.
The most points Texas Tech has surrendered this season is 67 points against the Memphis Tigers back on the first day of December.
On the other side, the Blue Devils are statistically the sixth best offensive team in the country, averaging 92.9 points per game.
Duke has been above the 80 point plateau in every game this season except for the 78-72 victory over the then No. 8 Auburn Tigers in the Maui Invitational.
The Blue Devils are going to have to focus on Texas Tech star Jarrett Culver who is averaging 19.1 points per game.
Culver is also the leading rebounder and assist man for the Red Raiders as he averages 5.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game.
The best defender on this Duke team is point guard Tre Jones, but listed at six feet, two inches and Culver at six feet, five inches, the Blue Devils might have freshman R.J. Barrett guard Culver in the early stages until the six foot, seven inch Jack White checks into the game.
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Both teams are very aggressive when it comes to blocking shots as the Blue Devils leads the nation in blocked shots per game, but the Texas Tech has Tariq Owens who is No. 13 in the nation, averaging 2.7 blocks per game.
The Blue Devils have struggled shooting the ball from 3-point range recently, so the key for Duke is to try and turn Texas Tech over to create easy looks at the basket in transition.
In the half court, the Blue Devils have to start with the ball in the hands of Tre Jones and find Barrett and Zion Williamson in the paint which could lead to foul trouble for the Red Raiders.
A quick turnaround with one day of rest, traveling from North Carolina to New York, playing under the bright lights and pressure of Madison Square Garden, and facing a very tough Texas Tech team could spell trouble for the Blue Devils, but this Duke team just has a killer instinct in the second half of games and they will pull away from Texas Tech late.
PREDICTION: Duke 87, Texas Tech 73
dark. Next. Is this Duke team setting a new standard for defense?
Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils vs. the No. 12 Texas Tech Red Raiders.