Duke comes in as the favorite to win the National Championship, but there have been some off-season distractions going on as of late. If they’re not careful, a veteran-laden Elon might have a surprise for them.
TV Schedule: Fri, Nov. 10, ACC Network Extra, 7:00 p.m. ET
Arena: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina
There’s a lot of reasons to love this Duke Blue Devils’ team. They bring in top-ranked recruiting class for the second straight season with all holes and weaknesses addressed. Grayson Allen returns for his final year of eligibility. Plus, the program hasn’t been implicated in any basketball scandal — something some other elite programs cannot say.
They come in as the presumptive favorites in the ACC, and Duke freshman star Wendell Carter seems to think it’s more likely than not that the Blue Devils won’t have any blemishes on the season.
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Duke will certainly be the favorites in most of their games (Michigan State and UNC on the road should be a toss-up). That includes the opening night home game against Elon. This will be a rematch of last season’s 72-61 Duke victory. On paper, this looks like a non-contest. However, a deeper dive into this team and all of a sudden this game looks intriguing.
The Phoenix finished 18-14 (10-8) last year and finished fourth in the Colonial Athletic Conference. That may not seem impressive, but the team returns all five starters from a year ago. Led by junior Tyler Seibring, the lineup is a balanced bunch of upperclassmen who averaged between 8.9-14.4 ppg. Senior wing Brian Dawkins had a team-high 18 points against Duke from the year before.
Elon has a chance to finish as one of the top teams in the CAA. Unfortunately for them, this is a complete mismatch in terms of size. The tallest player in the rotation for the Phoenix is just 6’8, whereas Duke comes in with Carter and Marvin Bagley who are both over 6’10.
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This is a good first game for Duke. They take on an experienced team who has some good players. Elon should put up a good fight and the lessons from this game will help the Phoenix in conference play. However, the size will just be too much to handle, and Duke pulls away in the second half.
Prediction: Duke 92 – Elon 74