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Duke Basketball: 5 questions for the second game against Pittsburgh

By Tristan Freeman

PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 24: The bench of the Duke Blue Devils rects to a play late in the second half of the game during the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational presented by State Farm at the Moda Center on November 24, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. Duke won the game 85-78. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
PORTLAND, OR - NOVEMBER 24: The bench of the Duke Blue Devils rects to a play late in the second half of the game during the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational presented by State Farm at the Moda Center on November 24, 2017 in Portland, Oregon. Duke won the game 85-78. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images) /
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The Duke Blue Devils will play Pittsburgh for the second time in 10 games. Here are five questions for the matchup in the second time around.

1. Can Grayson Allen finally get in going?

This is going to be the first question for every Duke game until he finally turns it around. In ACC play, the senior is barely averaging double-figures and is going through a slump even worse than last season. Duke is winning despite his play but that could come back to haunt them in March.

2. Could Duke be looking ahead of this game?

The Blue Devils practically got a 10-point lead within 10 seconds of their first matchup against Pitt and it pretty much was over by the first timeout called. This is a complete mismatch in every way possible and Duke should win easily. But if the players know that, could they be setting their own trap?

3. Is Duke missing an opportunity by not having their backup bigs available?

Both Javin DeLaurier and Marques Bolden missed the game against Miami and the past few games overall. This is the softest part of the schedule for Duke, and in potential blowout scenarios like this, they could be getting valuable playing time. On the other hand, there’s no need to rush back the players in games like this, so why not bring them back at 100%?

4. Can Duke hold Pittsburgh under 50 points?

Last time out, the Panthers scored just 52 points against Duke, which is the second-lowest defensive effort of the season to allowing just 40 points to a depleted Evansville team. The team’s defensive rating is still over 100, which is not good for a title contender. A dominating 40-minute effort against Pitt could help those numbers.

5. Which is more likely: a Blue Devil goes for 30 or seven guys reach double figures?

In the last game with Pitt, it was a balanced effort, with no one scoring more than 16 points. The total number of minutes the starters played also should be taken into account.

Next: Is Duke No.1 in latest ACC Power rankings?

But this is a team that has explosive scorers, with Marvin Bagley having a number of 30 point games, along with Gary Trent Jr. coming off a 30-point outing himself. And don’t forget Allen who in due for a huge game.

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