Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Wildcard Edition
Duke (13-4 SU, 7-10 ATS, 4-2 ACC) takes on the red-hot Clemson Tigers (14-3 SU, 9-8 ATS, 6-0 ACC) from Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday at 5pmET.
Duke has owned this series winning three straight and seven of the last eight, though they covered two of the last four.
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Duke has won two straight and three of their last four. In their last game, they were able to beat Pittsburgh at home 77-69 as a 9-point favorite but did not play well. The Blue Devils shot just 36% from the field and 22% (6-of-27) from beyond the arc. They also had to come back from being down by 12 points in the second half. The reason they won this game was due to rebounds and defense. They finished with a +23 rebound margin and held the Panthers to just 28.6% shooting in the second half.
Every bucket from the dub over Pitt! 2nd half was lit. Outscored them by 19. pic.twitter.com/EePESG3P1N
— Duke Men's Basketball (@DukeMBB) January 12, 2023
The other key was the play of freshman Kyle Filipowski, who had 28 points, 15 rebounds, and shot 8-of-14 from the field and 11-of-13 from the line. But like many freshmen, he struggled with turnovers, committing four of his team's 18.
Duke (26th KenPom, 23 Net Rankings) has had some growing pains under new coach Jon Scheyer. They have some rough times on the road in the ACC, losing at NC State by 24 and at Wake Forest by 11. Right now, they need point guard Jeremy Roach (toe) back and that can explain their issues with turnovers. In the ACC, they rank 11th in turnover margin (-0.18) out of 15 teams and 11th in assist/turnover ratio (1.12).
Filipowski (6-11, 230) leads the way with 14.7 points and 9.0 rebounds, but is shooting just 43.1% from the field and 26.3% (15-57) from long range. Overall, the Blue Devils are averaging 72.7 points per game on 43.4% shooting (32% 3pt). They are allowing 62.9 points on 41.3% shoo ting and 29% from beyond the arc (21st). They also rank 11th in the NCA in free throw percentage at 78.6% and third in rebounding margin at +9.4.