Duke vs NC State: 2018-19 College basketball game preview, TV schedule
By Cody Gerena
The NC State Wolfpack will go up to Cameron Indoor Stadium in an attempt to get off the bubble and guarantee themselves a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Can they get a massive win over Duke?
TV Schedule: Saturday, February 16, 6:00 pm ET ESPN
Arena: Cameron Indoor Stadium in Durham, North Carolina
As the season winds down, two ACC in-state rivals separated by about 20 miles will face off in Durham, North Carolina, each trying to obtain their objective on different sides of the spectrum. The NC State Wolfpack 18-7 (6-6)will be looking for a big victory to get themselves into the NCAA Tournament, while the ranked #2 Duke Blue Devils 22-2(10-1)will be looking to increase their lead over the North Carolina Tar Heels and the Virginia Cavaliers to win the ACC regular-season championship for the first time since the 2009-10 season, where they were co-champions with the Maryland Terrapins with a 13-3 conference record.
Both teams will be coming in this game on win streaks. Duke has won eight straight games and has been practically unstoppable since losing to Syracuse in overtime at home on January 14, 95-91. In the eight games they’ve won since that loss, they have swept #4 Virginia, beat St. Johns at Madison Square Garden by 30, and had an amazing 23-point comeback at #16 Louisville against the Cardinals to win 71-69.
This has got them to a one-game lead over their fellow ACC opponents, but that doesn’t mean they should take any game lightly from now until the regular season ends as they have two games against their main rival, North Carolina left in their schedule.
The Wolfpack will be coming into this game with two smaller win streaks. The first is just a normal two game one against Pittsburgh at away by three and Syracuse at home by 15. The second win streak is arguably the more important one, this one is also a two-game streak, except this one is against Duke including a 96-85 win at home last season, where Duke was also coincidentally ranked #2.
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What’s good about that win is that three of NC State’s starters from that game are on the team this season as well, senior guard Torin Dorn, junior guard Markell Johnson, and sophomore guard Braxton Beverly. The former two were also reserves at their road win at Duke two seasons ago, so that means they have some experience in Cameron.
Duke will be led by their freshmen as usual, with them taking up four of the five starting spots, but this is not just any Duke freshmen class lineup, this is one of the best Duke lineups this decade had to offer. All four of the starting freshmen had an RSCI ranking below 13, with three of them below 10.
These freshmen are a guard who leads the teams with 5.3 assists per game known as Tre Jones, forwards Cam Reddish who scored 15 points in under 10 minutes including the game-tying and winning points in the 23-point comeback against Louisville mentioned before, and potential NBA number one draft picks/superstars RJ Barett, who leads the team in points per game with 22.7 points per game, and the golden boy Zion Williamson, who almost if not every single fan of college basketball or even NBA basketball has heard of due to the massive amount of press he has received. He also leads the team in rebounds, steals, and blocks per game with 9.3, 2.2, and 2.0 respectively.
NC State’s points and rebounds per game are led by Torin Dorn with 13.3 points and 6.8 rebounds per game. Assists are led by Markell Jackson, who has exactly four per game, and finally, Braxton Beverly leads the team in three-pointers made, a stat which he’ll have to improve on Saturday night in order for his team to get the victory.
In the recent Bubble Watch, NC State was put in the “doubling the deodorant” section with a projected 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament. In ESPN’s latest Bracketology with Joe Lunardi from Valentine’s Day, NC State was ranked higher with a 9 seed and above the last four byes section.
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In the end, the Wolfpack will have to follow their three keys to victory. As long as they could abide by those things, they should be able to win, but I don’t see it. I see the Blue Devils using their superior talent to outmuscle, outplay, and most importantly outscore their important to win by an impressive margin.