Duke vs. Florida: Who wins position battles in PK80 showdown?

Power forward: Wendell Carter II vs. Egor Koulechov 

This position battle is more between a couple of “4s” rather than true power forwards. Egor Koulechov is only 6’5, but, even back to his days at Rice, he’s always been a tremendous rebounder. He’s so far been the top grad transfer for the 2017-18 season with his 18.2 ppg and 7.2 rpg averages similar to last season.

He had a very notably off night in his last game, going only 1/9 for the game with just four points. But stats don’t tell the entire story, as each of his four assists turned into huge buckets for Florida. Also, he never forced his offense or took bad shots, showing his maturity.

But now he’ll have to go up against a true power forward in Wendell Carter, who’s been coming into his own after a slow start things out. He’s had a double-double in four of the last five games, and currently averages 13.7 ppg and 9.4 rpg.

At 6’10, Carter has a huge size advantage that may force Mike White to switch up the rotation. There are two options, either sliding Kovlechov and Hudson down and going big with another forward or space out the offense by making Carter a defensive liability. One thing for sure, the grad transfer won’t get away with another 1/9 game.

Edge: Carter