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A pair of ACC schools will meet on the court Saturday night. The Duke Blue Devils (10-3; 8-5-0 ATS) are back on the road for this one. Their journey takes them to Indiana, where the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (6-8; 7-7-0 ATS) are waiting. Duke won the only matchup last season and has taken down Notre Dame in nine of the last 10 meetings. The Fighting Irish will hope to get a rare win against them in Purcell Pavilion. Will they succeed, or are the Blue Devils simply a weakness?
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After dropping their ACC opener (at home), the Blue Devils have responded with five straight wins. The latest was their first in conference play this season, a 20-point win against Syracuse. However, last year's Duke team was 4-6 on the road, and this season's club has opened with a 0-2 start. There's a lot of reason to be concerned, even if KenPom has the Blue Devils' offense rated ninth in the nation. They averaged 83.5 points per game on 49.7% field goal shooting, two numbers that are among the top 30 teams nationally. Duke also hits 37.2% of three-point attempts and 74.7% of their free throws. The Blue Devils only turn the ball over 9.1 times per game, an elite number when factoring in their tempo. Yet again, Duke is full of top talent.
Tha t also translates defensively, as the Blue Devils only allow 66.6 points per contest. Duke is +4.3 in rebounding margin, only allowing 8.2 offensive boards per game, and +4.3 in turnover margin this season. The defense limits opponents to 15.3 free throw attempts per game. Foes facing Duke shoot 32.6% from deep and 43.1% overall. They've allowed 152 points in two road games, at least 72 in each, so this defense needs to prove that they can travel well. Still, based on the past five games, and most of the season, Duke's defense isn't a concern.