Duke basketball is gearing up for its two-game gauntlet over the next five days as the program will face #17 Arizona on the road tomorrow night then head to Las Vegas to take on #1 Kansas on November 26th.
Tomorrow night is the second matchup against a ranked team for the 12th ranked Blue Devils after falling to #9 Kentucky 77-72 in the State Farm Champions Classic last Tuesday.
Duke came into the season looking like a team that had the potential to be one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country with how many pieces the team has that can hit a three at any point.
The Blue Devils have put their shooting on display in the regular season, hitting 11-of-29 threes against Maine (37.9%), 17-of-38 against Army (44.7%), and 16-of-38 (42.1%) against Wofford.
But against the Wildcats, the Blue Devils struggled to shoot from the outside against Kentucky's intense ball pressure, shooting a mere 4-of-24 from three (16.7%).
As head coach Jon Scheyer runs plays for Duke to take a ton of threes each game, it's become a huge focal point of the offense and it definitely proved to hurt the team when threes aren't falling, especially against a team like Kentucky that can score at a premium.
Just about 41% of Duke's points have come from the three point line this season per KenPom, which is the 38th highest rate in the country.
Looking to Duke's date with Arizona, the Blue Devils have an opportunity to really put its shooting capabilities on display against a ranked opponent.
Arizona ranks 243rd nationally at KenPom in opponent three point percentage. The Wildcats recently gave up 103 points in a 103-88 loss to Wisconsin and allowed the Badgers to make 12 of its 27 threes, good for a 44.4% clip.
In Arizona's opening night win against Canisius, the Wildcats allowed Canisius to hit 10-of-26 (38.5%) three point attempts while shooting just 8-of-28 (28.6%) themselves.
Tomorrow night is a perfect opportunity for the Blue Devils to light it up from the three point line and overwhelm the Wildcats with consistent scoring, similar to what Wisconsin did the other night.
Guys like Kon Knueppel and Tyrese Proctor should be taking shots from the outside whenever they get the opportunity and keep the Wildcats defense chasing, as Arizona hasn't been a strong defensive unit so far this season.
Cooper Flagg could also reap the benefits of playing a great team like Arizona but one that hasn't defended the three well, as really the only aspect of Flagg's game that hasn't looked elite this season has been his three point shooting. Flagg has hit just 4 of his 18 three point attempts this season (22.2%).
It will be interesting to see if Scheyer gives guys like Darren Harris or Isaiah Evans extended minutes tomorrow night, guys who have elite shooting ability but didn't see the floor much in Duke's loss to Kentucky.
With such an elite defensive unit that Duke is and going up against a struggling one in Arizona, it's a game where Duke can push the fast break and get threes up at a premium.