The Duke Blue Devil’s need to show up for forty-minutes versus the Yale Bulldogs, who are looking for their fourth straight win in a row.
TV schedule: Saturday, December 8, 5:30 PM ET, ESPN
Location: Cameron Indoor, Durham, North Carolina
The Duke Blue Devil’s are coming off a hard-fought win over Hartford on Wednesday night. Hartford pushed the Blue Devil’s for thirty-minutes before running out of gas and loosing 84-54. The Blue Devil’s are currently (8-1) heading into Saturday night’s match-up.
Saturday night versus the Yale Bulldogs will be the Blue Devil’s first top-100 kenpom team since playing Indiana on November 27. The Blue Devil’s will need to come out strong if they want a big win versus the Bulldogs.
R.J. Barrett will be an impact player for the Blue Devil’s coming off his first collegiate double-double. Barrett finished the game versus Hartford with 27 points, 15 rebounds and four assists in thirty-six minutes.
Zion Williamson will of-course be an impact player Saturday night like his roommate Barrett. Williamson was the only player to show enthusiasm the entire game versus Hartford. He was able to finish the contest with a double-double as well. He finished with 18 points, 12 rebounds, and an assist in twenty-eight minutes.
Perhaps the most important key for the Blue Devil’s is their perimeter defense versus the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs rank in the top-20 in three-point percentage, shooting 40.4 percent from behind the arc.
The Blue Devil’s will need to chase their opponent off the three-point line, which all starts with freshman point guard Tre Jones. Jones is a great on-ball defender who Mike Krzyzewski has compared to previous Blue Devil great’s, Bobby Hurley and Steve Wojciechowski.
Jones provides on-ball defense the full length of the court making it difficult for opposing teams to get into their offense. Once their opponent gets the ball over half-court, the Blue Devil’s overplay the wings and jump the passing lanes.
Meanwhile, The Yale Bulldogs are (4-2) heading into Saturday night’s contest. The Bulldogs are ranked in the top-100 according to kenpom.
The Bulldog’s roster is made-up mostly of upperclassman. Four of their top five players are juniors or seniors. The Bulldogs have a signature win over Miami FL on December 1, after beating them 77-73. They look to try to win their fourth straight game of the season.
Perhaps the Bulldogs most needed player is junior guard Miye Oni. He averages 18.8 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in his impactful season. Oni is an excellent scorer shooting 65 percent from inside the arc and 38.7 percent from behind the three-point line.
Another impact player for the Bulldogs is junior forward Jordan Bruner. He averages 13.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists. Bruner does most of his work inside the arc shooting 68.6 percent. He might be a forward, but has great passing ability as he leads in the team in assists. Bruner not only leads the team in assists, but also in rebounds.
A key area for the Bulldogs in Saturday night’s game is controlling the pace and taking high-percentage shots.
The last thing you want to do is get into a track meet with star-studded freshman on the Blue Devil’s. The best thing the Bulldogs can do is control the pace and make it a low possession game.
In order to make it a low possession game the Bulldogs need to take high-percentage shots. The Bulldogs have done a good job of taking high percentage shots as they rank in the top 20 in three-point and two-point percentages according to kenpom. These high-percentage shots will allow the Bulldogs to get back and setup their defense.
Even though the Bulldogs have already upset one ACC team, I don’t think it will happen again on Saturday night. I believe the Blue Devil’s won’t come out sleeping two games in a row. The game could get ugly quickly if Williamson and Barrett put up an efficient double-double again.
Prediction: Duke 87 – Yale 66