Duke basketball non-conference schedule becoming more clear

The Duke basketball non-conference schedule is coming into focus. 

Despite being months away from Jon Scheyer’s first game as the head coach of the Duke basketball program, his first schedule is becoming more clear.

Stadium college basketball insider Jeff Goodman reported that the Blue Devils will be playing in the Jimmy V Classic this season and Scheyer’s debut as a head coach in Madison Square Garden will come against Iowa on December 6.

Illinois will play Texas in the other game at the World’s Most Famous Arena in the prestigious event, according to Goodman.

Duke has a 7-1 all-time record against Iowa but the two programs have not played since 2001.

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The Hawkeyes are coming off a 26-10 (16-8 Big Ten) season in which it won the Big Ten Tournament Championship but lost in the Round of 64 in the NCAA Tournament to the Richmond Spiders.

The Blue Devils will begin the Jon Scheyer era in Durham on November 7 against Jacksonville while the next game on the calendar, as currently constructed, is against the defending champions on the Champions Classic.

Duke basketball continues to challenge itself in non-conference

Duke will face the Kansas Jayhawks on November 15 from Indianapolis before returning home to battle Bellarmine on November 21.

Scheyer will then bring his young squad to Portland, Oregon to compete in the Phil Knight Invitational where Duke won its bracket in the last time it participated in the event in 2017.

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The bracket for the PK85 Invitational has not been announced yet but the teams competing in Duke’s bracket are Florida, Gonzaga, Oregon State, Purdue, West Virginia, Xavier, and Portland State.

The Blue Devils are guaranteed three games in four days (November 24, 25, and 27) in the event, regardless of the outcome of its initial game.

Duke still has to schedule five non-conference games, one of which will be the ACC vs. Big Ten Challenge while the others will likely be against mid-majors in Cameron Indoor Stadium.