Duke Basketball: 2018-19 keys for the Blue Devils at Pittsburgh

DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - JANUARY 19: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski talks with Alex O'Connell #15 of the Duke Blue Devils during the first half of their game against the Virginia Cavaliers at Cameron Indoor Stadium on January 19, 2019 in Durham, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

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INDIANAPOLIS, IN – APRIL 03: Head coach Mike Krzyzewski and assistant coach Jeff Capel of the Duke Blue Devils look on during practice for the NCAA Men’s Final Four at Lucas Oil Stadium on April 3, 2015 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Duke Basketball will head to Pittsburgh to take on former Blue Devil associate head coach Jeff Capel for the first time since leaving for the Panthers.

The Duke Blue Devils will face-off with the Pittsburgh Panthers on Tuesday, January 22 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The game can be viewed on ESPN at 9:00 PM ET.

The Blue Devils are coming off an impressive 72-70, win versus Virginia on Saturday night after losing to Syracuse earlier in the week. This hiccup last week dropped Duke to No. 2 in the AP poll on Monday morning.

Duke played most of the Syracuse game and all the Virginia game without point guard Tre Jones. Jones injured his AC joint in his shoulder after colliding with a Syracuse player going for a loose ball. The Blue Devils did get positive news on Jones, however, the injury isn’t as bad as once believed. Mike Krzyzewski has ruled out Jones for the Pittsburgh game, but he could be back as soon as the game after.

The Blue Devils are currently (15-2) overall, only losing to Gonzaga and Syracuse.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Panthers (12-6) are coming off a 74-63, loss at Syracuse. The Panthers have however won two big ACC conference games versus Louisville and Florida State. These wins were huge for a Panther team who didn’t win a single ACC game last year.

The reason for this change in attitude and swagger stems from new head coach Jeff Capel. This is Capel’s first year at Pittsburgh after serving as assistant coach and associate head coach at the Blue Devils. It will be interesting to see how he fares versus his mentor.

This will be the first game between Capel and Krzyzewski since the two sides departed. Here are 3 keys for the Blue Devils to get the win versus former Blue Devil coach Jeff Capel.

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