On Saturday night in the ACC basketball league, the Duke Blue Devils take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the ACC Tournament title game.
TV Schedule: Saturday, Mar. 11, 9:00 p.m. ET, ESPN
Arena: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Duke is playing like the team everyone thought we would see when the season began. The Blue Devils have won three games in three days, with two of them coming over No. 10 Louisville and No. 5 North Carolina. Everything looks as though it is starting to finally come together for the Blue Devils and that should have every team in the NCAA Tournament very worried.
There are talks that Duke could potentially be playing for a number one seed in the NCAA Tournament tonight. I don’t personally see that, but crazier things have happened. A win over a Notre Dame team that has won 8 of their last 9 games could make a strong case for the Blue Devils.
Notre Dame is playing extremely well right now. They are coming off of back-to-back wins over Virginia and Florida State, and now have a streaking Duke team standing in their way of an ACC Tournament title. The Irish have won these games in two ways, shooting and defense.
Against Virginia, the Irish shot 52.2% from the floor and held Virginia to shoot 38.6% overall. They also played incredible defense on London Perrantes and Kyle Guy, forcing them to combine for 1-17 shooting for 3 total points.
Last night the Irish beat a good Florida State team by shooting 13-27 (48.1%) from three-point range. Every time Florida State started to make a run, the Irish would seemingly connect on another three to keep the gap between them.
Duke mirrored this performance against Carolina, shooting 10-17 (58.8%) from three-point range. Duke is also playing in their fourth game in four days. You would think that this would take a toll on their legs, and as a result, their jump shooting. So far this hasn’t been the case, but it is still something to watch for in this match-up tonight.
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Notre Dame coach Mike Brey has won 5 of the last 7 meetings against Coach K, the man he studied under. Despite this, I don’t see the Irish winning this game. Duke is peaking at the right time and they look incredibly dangerous offensively. Four games in four days should take a toll on them, but they are playing so well right now that it just seems like a bad decision to pick against the Blue Devils tonight.
Prediction: Duke 85, Notre Dame 80