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Duke Basketball: Blue Devils out for revenge against Hokies in Sweet 16

By Kevin Connelly

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 24: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts with Tre Jones #3 after a basket against the UCF Knights during the first half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 24: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils reacts with Tre Jones #3 after a basket against the UCF Knights during the first half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Basketball team is trying to avenge its regular season loss to Virginia Tech in the regular season with a Sweet 16 win over the Hokies on Friday night.

There isn’t that much that you can take away from the February 26 meeting in Blacksburg between the Duke Blue Devils and the Virginia Tech Hokies.

The Blue Devils were without Zion Williamson and the Hokies were without Justin Robinson, arguably the best players on their respective teams.

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In that game, Duke’s R.J. Barrett was also dealing with an illness, but still managed to finish with 21 points, four rebounds, and five assists.

Virginia Tech won 77-72 after a Ty Outlaw corner 3-pointer put the Hokies up by three with under 90 seconds to play, and Duke could not respond.

While the Hokies are back to fully strength, Duke is still not at 100% with junior forward Jack White being listed a doubtful for Friday night’s showdown.

Duke has played without Jack White since the ACC Tournament Championship game where he suffered his hamstring injury.

Better news on the injury front for the Blue Devils is the improving knee of Marques Bolden. Bolden suffered a knee sprain on March 9 against North Carolina and did not play in the ACC Tournament.

However, Bolden did return to the court last Friday with a knee brace but head coach Mike Krzyzewski said that Bolden’s knee has continued to improve and he will play this weekend without a knee brace.

Virginia Tech’s bread and butter is great defense and 3-point shooting. As a team, the Hokies shoot 39.4% from 3-point range with three players (Ty Outlaw, Isaiah Wilkins, and Justin Robinson) all shooting over 40.0% from beyond the arc.

The Hokies also can feed its big man in the post in Kerry Blackshear Jr. who averages 14.9 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.

On the other hand, Duke has struggled for most of the year from 3-point range this season (30.2%) and the Blue Devils cannot turn this game into a 3-point shooting contest.

In the first matchup of the season, Virginia Tech played off of everyone with the exception of Cam Reddish and R.J. Barrett.

Next. Duke needs Tre Jones to be more effective offensively. dark

Barrett got doubled teamed every time he stepped below the arc, and Reddish was face guarded for the majority of the game.

Now with Zion Williamson back in the lineup, it will be difficult for Buzz Williams to have the same defensive scheme, but expect Virginia Tech to pack the paint and force Williamson into tough shots in the paint and force Duke to beat them from the outside.

If Duke is able to penetrate Virginia Tech’s defense and get to the rim and get the Hokies into foul trouble, the Blue Devils should win this game.

It definitely won’t be easy, but Duke obviously has the talent and ability to win this game. The contest will tipoff at approximately 9:39pm ET on CBS from the Capital One Arena from Washington D.C.

PREDICTION: Duke 75, Virginia Tech 69

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 Virginia Tech Hokies.

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