The Duke Basketball team is looking to build off its season opening win over Kansas as the Blue Devils return home for its home opener against Colorado State.
It’s not that often in college basketball when teams have the chance for a letdown game in the second game of the season.
Well, that’s what is staring the No. 4 Duke Blue Devils in the face after defeating the No. 3 Kansas Jayhawks on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden and having a quick turnaround to face Colorado State on Friday night.
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The Blue Devils faced the same thing last season when Duke rolled Kentucky by 34 points in the opening game of the season and then faced Army only a few days later, and sleepwalked through that game just a bit, winning by 22.
While a win over Kansas was impressive, there are still things to be worked on for Duke, especially on the offensive side of the ball.
The Blue Devils only posted 68 points in the win over the Jayhawks and Duke might win a number of games scoring less than 70 points this season, but in a game against what is looked at as an inferior opponent in Colorado State, it’s important for Duke to get some consistency in the half-court.
Another thing to watch for in this game is if Joey Baker will get some meaningful minutes.
Mike Krzyzewski played nine players in the win over the Jayhawks and Baker was not one of them, that’s after he led the team in scoring in its final exhibition game over Fort Wayne State.
The world knows the story about how Baker’s redshirt was burned at the backend of last season and the whole situation is still a bit of a head-scratcher, but if Baker is unable to see consistent minutes in Cameron against Colorado State, well then another conversation might needed to be had about how long his stay in Durham might be.
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Duke will defeat Colorado State rather comfortably, but it’s the little things in the game that fans should keep an eye on, especially in the movement in the half-court offense and how the Blue Devils shoot the ball from 3-point range.
Tip-off time is set for 7:00pm EST and fans can see the game on the ACC Network.
PREDICTION: Duke 85, Colorado State 63