Duke men's basketball is back in Cameron Indoor on Thursday night, looking for improvement from an up-and-down performance against Army in the season opener. The Blue Devils still won going away, earning an 84-50 win, but it wasn't the performance many expected after a stellar three-game exhibition run.
Duke's offense looked clunky and disorganized, particularly when Army switched to a zone defense. Jon Scheyer shouldered the blame for that, stating after the win on Monday night that they simply hadn't practiced against a zone enough to be ready for it. It showed.
You can bet that has been a point of emphasis in the aftermath, and you can bet that Duke is going to see more zone defenses throughout this season until they can prove they can punish teams for it.
The Chanticleers represent a slight step up in competition from Army, at least according to preseason projections. KenPom had the Black Knights at 338th coming into the season. Coastal Carolina is 247th.
Coastal opened its season on Monday night as well, falling by a single point to Eastern Michigan at home. Sophomore Trey Perry is the leading man for the Chanticleers, and he scored 20 points in the season-opening loss to Eastern Michigan.
Duke is a heavy favorite and should have little trouble dispatching their Sun Belt opponent. This game is all about working out the kinks before next week's showdown in Chicago against Michigan State.
Betting odds for Duke vs. Coastal Carolina in game two
Odds courtesy of FanDuel as of 9am ET on Monday.
Spread: Duke -40.5
Over/Under: 150.5
Moneyline: N/A
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
Final Prediction:
I expect a bounce-back performance from Duke offensively. In particular, this feels like a game in which we will get an ultra-aggressive John Blackwell, who struggled with only three points on 1-of-6 shooting from the floor in his regular-season debut for the Blue Devils.
Look for Duke to feed Blackwell early and often, and for the Wisconsin transfer to look a lot more like the efficient three-level scorer we saw during the exhibition schedule and that he was during the last two seasons for the Badgers.
Duke should also have a significant edge on the interior. Patrick Ngongba and Joaquim Boumtje Boumtje will be difficult for Coastal Carolina to deal with.
Look for Duke to start hot just like they did against Army, only without the extended droughts that followed. I like the Blue Devils big:
Pick: Duke 102, Coastal Carolina 53
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