Duke Basketball: Jeff Capel and Pittsburgh await Blue Devils star freshman

After a major victory on Saturday night, the Duke Basketball team will hit the road to take on the hard-nosed Pittsburgh Panthers.

Duke overcame the loss of Tre Jones, a horrific 3-point shooting performance, and struggling at the free throw line to defeat the No. 4 Virginia Cavaliers on Saturday night and the Blue Devils will look to keep the momentum in its favor on Tuesday night on the road against the Pittsburgh Panthers.

However, it is very likely that Duke will once again be without Tre Jones against the Panthers due to the shoulder injury he suffered last Monday against Syracuse.

Mike Krzyzewski told reporters on Monday afternoon that Jones is officially listed as “doubtful”.

Coach K said Tre Jones is doubtful to play at Pitt. He later said "He's not going to play unless something miraculous happens." Added that Jones is making great progress.
— Stephen Wiseman (@stevewisemanNC) January 21, 2019

However, the biggest story line in this game that Pittsburgh’s Head Coach, Jeff Capel, will be going up against the Blue Devils for the first time since being named as the Head Coach of the Panthers.

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Capel played at Duke under Coach K for four seasons from 1993-97. Capel averaged 12.4 points per game for the Blue Devils and was also an Assistant and Associate Head Coach for Duke from 2011 until last March.

Jeff Capel has a great relationship with many of the current players on the Duke roster since he was the lead recruiter for Duke for many years.

As for the players on the court, Duke will rely on the star power of R.J. Barrett, Zion Williamson, and Cam Reddish to lead the way against Pittsburgh, who has played very well against ranked opponents recently.

After a 25 point blow out against North Carolina at home to start conference play, Pittsburgh beat Louisville, who is now ranked in the AP Top-25, and Florida State, who recently dropped out of the poll but were No. 11 when defeated by the Panthers.

Coach K has had great success against his former players and assistant coaches once they are able to land head coaching jobs and that should continue on Tuesday night.

While Jeff Capel has his players performing at a very high level, Duke’s talent is far superior and the young squad already has the experience of playing in front of a sold-out and loud crowd on the road in conference play.

The No. 2 Duke Blue Devils and the Pittsburgh Panthers will tip-off at 9:00 pm ET from the Petersen Events Center and the game can be seen on ESPN.

PREDICTION: Duke 87, Pittsburgh 72

Stay tuned to Ball Durham on Twitter, @Ball_Durham, and here at our website, balldurham.com, for complete coverage of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Pittsburgh Panthers.

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