The Duke Blue Devils play host to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Tuesday afternoon in a Valentine's Day showdown from Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Irish come in struggling of late and are hoping they can somehow spring the upset. For Duke, they have its own losing streak that they're looking to get out of, though being at home should help. These two haven't squared off this season and with Duke having won eight of the last ten meetings, they'll have plenty of confidence in this one.
Notre Dame has had a rough go of it the last few seasons and now that they're riding a three-game losing streak, it'll be asking a lot out of this group to snap out of that on the road in this one. This did shock the Blue Devils on the road back in 2021 but considering they have yet to win a true road game this season, confidence won't be on their side of things. They only have two wins in their last ten games overall, even with the majority of those games involving teams in the bottom half of the standings and it only getting more difficult over the next few weeks. The last two games both game by single-digits, as well as that being the case for three of their last four losses, there's a chance that they could be turning a corner. A postseason run is the last thing on their mind but a win against Duke could reshape their momentum over the next few weeks.
The lack of depth has been an issue and that 9;s likely to be focused on given their two absences in this one. Dom Campbell (Achilles) should be back over the next few weeks but for now, he joins JR Konieczny (redshirt) as unavailable. While not an elite contributor, it would be nice to have him in the frontcourt, especially against the Blue Devils.
combined for 50 ??
Nate Laszewski (33) and Cormac Ryan (17) tallied 50 of our 87 points vs. Virginia Tech pic.twitter.com/9a4luELTpn
— Notre Dame Men's Basketball (@NDmbb) February 11, 2023
Notre Dame's defense has helped to keep them in quite a few games this season and they'll need to be strong against an efficient Duke offense. The biggest concern is likely to come on the defensive glass though, where they rank 333rd nationally in rebounding, against an elite Duke frontcourt. Adding in limited chances to generate second-chance opportunities and the offense will continue to be an issue too. Nate Laszewski (14.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg) remains a force on the offensive end but as the only frontcourt presence, foul trouble could be a problem if he struggles to defend cleanly early.
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